Seventh Time Lucky
by CandyQueen29
Summary: It's Lily's last year at Hogwarts. What will she do when she finds herself yet again in the sights of James Potter? She wants to escape him, or does she?
1. Prologue

Seventh Time Lucky

Prologue 

The sun streamed through the open window, its beams landing on the face of a sleeping red-headed girl. As the sun crept higher in the sky, the girl started to stir. A shadow spread across the window blocking out the light and a quiet "tap tap" came from behind the glass. Lily Evens eyes shot open and went straight to the window. A big smile came spread across her face as she saw a barn owl hovering there. Leaping out of bed she had the window open in a flash, the owl swooped in and landed on her chest of drawers sticking out its leg. Lily untied the letter attached to it and sat down on her bed to read it. It contain the usual list of books she would need for her last year. Then she noticed there was another piece of parchment. Trembling she slowly unfolded it:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Dear Miss Evens,_

_ We are delighted to inform you that you have been given the position of Head Girl this year._

_ Yours sincerely _

_ Albus Dumbledore _

_ Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

She dropped the letter on the floor and reached out for the envelope, and looked inside. There nestled in the corner was a small silver badge with the letters HG on it. Lily stared at it in silence, over flowing with joy and excitement.

When she went done for breakfast, her face was still glowing with happiness. When she sat down she turned to the rest of her family.

"Guess who's Head Girl of Hogwarts?" she said, grinning. While her parents were congratulating her, she noticed that her sister, Petunia, was looking anything but happy for her. A scowl was etched into her face which turned into a sneer when she saw Lily looking at her.

"Oh yes lets all celebrate. I mean the freak has only just been made Head freak of the freak school"

Lily turned away ignoring her. It had been to much to hope for that Petunia would be happy for her.

"This" Petunia continued " obviously means that you are the biggest freak in that weird place"

This time both Lily and her parents ignored her, instead Mrs Evens turned to Lily.

"Well I think that its wonderful, and I also think that this calls for a special visit to Diagon Alley"

Lily laughed " We're going to Diagon Alley anyway to buy my books. Why do we need to make a special visit?"

Mrs Evens smiled at her daughter, "We don't. I just felt like saying that."

After Lily had eaten and managed to escape her proud parents, she ran back up to her bedroom. She had only just reached the door when Petunia spoke from behind her.

"Oh yes, your all happy being their favourite daughter."

Lily stared at her "What do you mean Tuney?"

"Well let me see. Your the one who gets into the school for freaks hundreds of miles away, your the one who can do freaky stuff, your the one who gets to go to this secret shopping street, your the one who has become a freaking Head Girl! And me? Well I got none of that did and you wonder why your the favourite." Petunia's face was red and her hands were clenched into fists by her side. The sisters stared at each other until Petunia turned on her heel and disappeared into her room slamming the door behind her. Lily turned and walked slowly into her own room. Sitting down on the bed she let her mind wonder back to her childhood and how close she and Petunia used to be. Before she got her letter, before she found out she was a witch.

_They were sitting on the swings, in the middle of summer. She, Lily was swinging much higher than Tuney, she continued gaining hight._

"_Lily, don't do it!" shrieked Tuney. She ignored her sister and had let go of the swing at the height of its arc and she flew into the air. She laughed with happiness as she flew and then landed softy on the ground, unharmed._

"_Mummy told you not to!"_

_Tuney stopped her swing, dragging her heels in the ground, and leapt up, hands on hips._

"_Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"_

"_But I'm fine," she said still giggling. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do." Tuney looked around to see if the playground was empty, which it was. She picked up a flower from a bush and waited till Tuney had come close, then she made the petals of the flower open and close._

"_Stop it!" Tuney shouted _

"_It's not hurting you" she pointed out, but closed her hand and threw the blossom to the ground._

"_It's not right," her eyes had followed the flower to the ground. "How do you do it?" she added, and there was definite longing in her voice. _

Unwillingly she found herself think of Severus. Quickly she shook her head; she didn't want to remember him, they weren't friends any more. Not after what had happened at the end of fifth year.

With tears attempting to penetrate her eyes, she turned her thoughts to the Head Boy. Who could it be? Remus Lupin maybe, he was a prefect and pretty trustworthy considering he was a Maruader. A smile suddenly slid onto her face and a laugh rose in her throat as she imagined what would happen if Potter was head. That would be laughable; James Potter also belonged to the Maruaders and had got more detentions than the letters in his name. He was also Lily's permanent suitor and had had a crush on her since first year, asking her out almost everyday. Lily's answer was always "no", she couldn't stand him and the other maruaders although Remus was actually okay. " _No_", she thought "_no one in their right mind would make Potter head boy. I mean it would be like making a six year old with a short attention span head. Potter is so unreliable" _

"Lily" her mothers voice emanated from below bring her out of her memories " I'm almost finished clearing up down here. Get changed then we can go to London to get your school stuff"

"Okay" Lily called back, now brimming with excitement. As she pulled on a pair of jeans her smile returned "_No I wont have any problem with Potter this year. If he annoys me I can just give him a detention. I'm going to be safe and Potter free." _


	2. Back to School

**AN: Okay, I'd just like to thank everyone who has read this, reviewed it and added it to their favourites. I would also like to say that I'm not the only person writing this as I have a co-author. We hope you enjoy this chapter and can you please tell us what you think about it? Thanks xx **

* * *

A week later Lily was standing outside Kings Cross Station, waiting as her father heaved her trunk out of the boot. The station looked the same as ever and was just as crowded. She smiled up at her father as she took her trunk from him.

"Goodbye Petal. See you at Christmas?" he asked a little unsure.

"Yeah I'll come home for Christmas, I might even bring a friend if that's all right?"He nodded

"It will be, as long as you come home," He glanced at his watch "Goodness you better go you don't want to miss the train" Lily nodded and hugged Mr Evans.

"Bye. See you at Christmas" with that she turned and walked into the station and started making her way towards the barrier between 9 and 10. Before she had got very far she heard her name and looked up just in time to see a rush of blonde hair before arms were wrapped tightly around her.

"Oh My GOD" The arms loosened and Lily looked into the face of Marigold Lucas. "Lily Evans how dare you not write to me, I have been waiting for a letter from you all summer, but did one come for me? No. I am going to kill you Lily Evans." Marigold stopped her ranting and glared at Lily who was laughing.

"What?" she asked irritated.

"Your complaining that I didn't write to you? Well what about me? I swear you said at the end of last term that you were going to invite me over. If there's anyone dieing it will be you!" both of the girl were glaring at each other then they both started laughing. Lily pulled her best friend into a hug. "I missed you so much, and by the way I did write to you but I used the muggle way of sending post ."

"I know" Marigold grinned. "I just wanted a reason to shout at you as is tradition" the girls laughed again. Every year Marigold yelled at Lily when they met. It had started when they became friends, on the first day. Lily had run into Marigold and knocked her into a book cupboard. Marigold started shouting at Lily, and when she had finished, Lily held her hand out and introduced herself and asked "want to be friends". Marigold had smiled and agreed. Since then they had been best friends. They were both so alike; each had a quick temper, smart, same sense of fashion and both loved quiddich.

"Come on" Marigold started towards the barrier. A second later she had disappeared, without hesitation Lily walked straight at the brick wall, which swallowed her up. Less than a minute later she found herself on platform 93/4 staring at the huge red train which was the Hogwarts Express.

Glancing at the clock on the wall and seeing that she had ten minutes till the train left, Lily quickly jumped onto the train after Marigold. When they reached an empty compartment they went inside and sat down.

"So how was your holiday?"

Lily groaned. "Awful. Tuney spent the whole time bitching about me and calling me a freak. And seeing as YOU didn't invite me round I spent the whole time there in her firing line."

"Yeah" Marigold grimaced. "Sorry my parents dragged me to France to see some kind of distant aunt, and we only really got back last week, but if it's any consolation I was really bored. This distant relation is like 50 and she only spoke French." Marigold looked at Lily. " So do you know who's Head Girl yet?". Lily nodded a grin started spreading across her face. "Well who is is?"

Lily's grin widened, but it was suddenly wiped off as she spotted someone standing outside. The door of the compartment slid open and a tall, slightly muscular, handsome, brown haired boy with glasses stepped.

"Hey Evans. Have a good holiday?"

"No. But that doesn't concern you Potter"

James smiled, same old Lily. He turned to Marigold.

"Goldie! Was your holiday any better than Evans was?"

Marigold glared at him. She hated the nickname the Marauders had given her. Typical, her parents just had to call their blonde haired daughter "Marigold".

"It was okay, thanks James, but can I please remind you NOT to call me Goldie or you and Black will regret it."

James smirked and Lily lost her temper.

"Right Potter. Get out, we were in the middle of a conversation before you rudely interrupted."

James looked straight into Lily's amazing green eyes, and with a smile still on his lips left the room.

Marigold watched Lily carefully as her eyes followed James out. Lily noticed her friend watching her.

"What?"

"Nothing" Marigold answered smirking. Before she could say any more the door opened again and two girls fell in.

"I'm telling you she is"

"No she isn't, I mean she would have told us"

"Who would have told you what" Marigold demanded. The two girls looked up, the surprise on their faces told Lily and Marigold that they hadn't noticed them. One of them turned to look at Lily.

"Lily aren't you Head Girl?" All three girls looked at Lily and slowly the red head nodded. At once the compartment exploded with noise. Marigold voice was the loudest. Finally when everyone had calmed down, the girls sat down. The two new girl studied Lily closely, she groaned.

"Just to stop you all staring at me, I'm going to ask" she turned to the brown haired girl. "Alice, how was your holiday?"

Alice grinned at her,

"It was good, I went round Mary's"

Alice turned to look at the black haired girl next to her, who smiled. Suddenly the train jolted forwards, causing all the girls to look up. Platform 93/4 was slowly moving away. Lily got to her feet and made her way to the door.

"See you guys later. I have tot go to the prefects cabin."

Her friends nodded. As soon as Lily had left Mary turned to Marigold.

"Do you know who the Head Boy is?" Marigold shook her head.

"I don't know anything, but its obvious you do." Mary nodded. "Well who is it then"

Alice and Mary smiled and watched Marigold's face transform into a look to match their own.

"Perfect"

* * *

The prefects cabin was right at the other end of the train, so Lily had to pass compartments with people from different houses in. This didn't bother her, well not until she came to where the Slytherines had gathered. She ducked her head slightly as she recognised a scrawny, greecey black haired boy. She didn't want to see him. Finally she made it to the cabin, with a sigh of relief she pushed the open, expecting to see Remus Lupin, Jonathan Bow or..._James Potter!_ Lily stood there dumbfounded. James Potter. James Potter. Dumbledore had made _James Potter_ Head Boy. It was unbelievable or maybe it was a joke, a trick. Yes that was it Potter was just there as a joke, or maybe he was waiting for Remus?

"Nice try Potter" She snapped. James' head shot up, confused. "Get out of hear and stop pretending that your the head boy."

"Well, well, well we meet again Evans." Lily glared at him.

"Why are you here Potter? If your waiting for Remus you can wait in your own compartment, with Black and Pettigrew."

"You are looking at your one and only Head Boy for this year." He smirked as he saw her face. "Ask Remus if you don't believe me, or better still ask your friends Alice and Mary. They know I'm telling the truth."

"If Alice and Mary knew you were Head they would have told me!"

James shrugged. If Lily wasn't going to believe him then that was her fault. The door opened and a few of the prefects came in. They raised their eyes when they saw James, and sat down. Remus Lupin entered and Lily fell on him.

"Remus is it true?" Remus just looked at her. "Is Potter Head ?" Remus nodded and watched Lily's face crumple, but it brightened as she turned to face the prefects.

"Okay guys. So I hope you had a good holiday. We won't discuss rounds now. We'll do that on Saturday at about six in the Defence Against the Dark Arts room. Also..."

"Well thank you all for coming and..."

"POTTER!"

James turned to look at Lily innocently

"Yes Evans?"

"A word in the next compartment please," Lily turned and sighing James followed her. As soon as they had left a babble of noise broke out

"Oh my god James Potter is head?"

"Dumbledore must be losing his mind"

"He's sooo hot. I mean did you see his butt?"

Lily spun to face James, to see him leaning against the door frame staring at her intently, eyebrows raised. She glared at him until he spoke.

"Seriously Evans say what you want to say so I can get back to my friends"

"Right so obviously, this year we have to work together, but not by my choice. If I did have one I would choose not to work with someone as big headed as you. So I'm going to lay down some rules, which you have to follow. You break those, you'll regret it. Right number one. Don't speak to me unless absolutely necessary. Number two. My name is Evans not Lily or anything else. Number three. You keep that raving group of baboons of your under control especially Black. Number fo..."

"Evans, I think I can guess all the rules your gonna give me so..."

"DON'T INTERUPT!"

"Okay so I'm not allowed to interrupt you but your allowed to do that to me?"

"You interrupted me first."

"But then you did it to me. So you just broke your own rules." James pointed out with a smile on his face. "Seriously Lil, stop being such a hypocrite.

"My name is Evans James!"

"Your being a hypocrite again"

"How?"

"You just called me James, so that means that I can call you Lily"

Lily just stared at him. Had she really called him James? She felt a blush creep onto her face._ Oh my god, okay don't Panic, because your blushing don't panic... crap! _Mentally kicking herself she shrugged, trying to hide her thoughts.

"There my rules, I can brake them if I want to."

"Hypocrite"

"Shut it Potter. I don't want to waste my time arguing with you."

"Well you've all ready managed to do that."

"Potter, I..."

The train lurched forwards, causing Lily to fall. She would have been okay, had the train not at that moment took a turn sending her flying straight into James.

"Didn't know you were so keen to go out with me Evans." James said grinning, his arms wrapped around her waist. Lily blushed, pushing herself out of his arms.

"Don't get your hopes up Potter. I'd rather have sex with Hodgson than go out with you."

"What's Hodgson got to do with this?

"Nothing. I just..."

"You'd rather be with him than me?"

"Yes!"

"And you'd rather have sex with him than with me?"

"No." She was silent realisation dawned on her. "Wait, wait yes. No. Oh I don't know..." Lily stopped flustered. She stood there for a second then pushed passed James back into the other room. James stood staring after her for a moment with mixed feelings-amusement, confusion and...hope. Lily opened the door just in time to see all the prefects run back to their seats. Lily glared at them.

"The meetings over, go back to your friends or what ever you were doing before. Don't forget about Saturday"

With that Lily left. She power walked all the way back to her friends. She hesitated, watching them through the glass for a few seconds. All three of them were trapped in an intense conversation, not wanting to stay out in the corridor, Lily shoved the door open. The talking stopped immediately, three very guilty looking faces looked up at her. The girls stared into the face of there friend and it was quite obvious that she was angry; very angry.

"Did you know that Potter was head?"

The question cut through the air like a knife. Slowly Mary and Alice nodded, already tensing waiting for the anger that was going to come, but instead of shouting at them Lily just nodded, slumping down into her seat.

"Well could you please tell me next time, so that I don't look like an idiot in front of him."

"Wait a minute" Marigold held up her hands. "Did you just say you don't want to look like an idiot in front of him. Why do you care now suddenly I mean before hand you didn't"

Lily nodded. "We had an argument and not only did I make a fool of myself in front of him but the prefects heard every word we said."

"What did you say"

"That I'd rather have sex with Dennis Hodgson than go out with him."

Whooping and clapping that burst out of the compartment was deafening, all three girls were jumping around and shouting their heads off, when they finally calmed down Alice asked.

"What did James say?"

"He asked whether I really would have sex with Hodgson."

"And you said?"

"No"

Her friends stared at her.

"You said "no"?"

Lily nodded. "I don't even know why I said that. I mean I've now given him hope that I'll say "yes" next time he asks me out, and then I couldn't even correct myself, I just left."

She groaned slumping down further in her seat, covering her face with her hands. "I'm such an idiot"

"Well its done now," Mary said. "You can't dwell on that, just skip over it."

There was silence for a long time, each of them were thinking about what had happened.

"Oh" Alice cried suddenly breaking the silence, and making the girls jump. "I forgot to tell you. I've got a boyfriend."

Marigold sat up "Who?" she demanded

"Frank Longbottom"

For the rest of the journey the four friends discussed Frank and all the other hot boys in their year. Lily threw herself into the conversation, glad that Alice had drawn the attention away from her and the blunder she had made with James. Finally the train arrived at Hogsmead Station, and after a short time in the carriages Lily caught the first sight of Hogwarts; Her school, her life and her home.


	3. First Night

Chapter two

Millions of tiny silver stars glinted above the heads of the students from Hogwarts as the sorting finished. Lily turned to look at her friends.

"Well that was our last house sorting ever as students."

Her friends nodded sadly, however they didn't dwell any more on that fact as the food that suddenly appeared before them caught their attention. Everyone fell on the food, it had been ages since they had eaten. Further up the table sat James Potter, and his little group of friends; The Marauders. James couldn't concentrate on the food even though he was starving, his eyes kept on travelling down the table to where Lily sat, laughing with her friends. Sirius Black, who had been watching his best friend carefully since Remus had returned from the prefects meeting and told him what had happened, followed his gaze. Shaking his head he turned back to his food, James would never get over the red head. Remus was also watching James, he knew that James had more hope now than ever that Lily would be his.

"Padfoot" He said looking at Sirius. "We need to do something"

"'Bout what"

"Prongs"

Sirius looked at James, the boy hadn't moved, not even when his friends had mentioned his nickname. Turning back towards Remus, Sirius nodded.

"I know Moony, but what. What can we do? Sweet little Lily-Petal isn't going to go out with him, not yet anyway."

"But he's so in love with her, he doesn't even care that we're talking about him, when he's right next to us."

Sirius eyed Lily's friends carefully. "Tell you what why don't we ask Goldie, Shorty and Donny to give us a hand. I'm sure they want Lily-Petal and Prongs together just as much as we do."

A small blond boy spoke then from his place next to James "Maybe we should bring him back, it can't be good for him to keep staring at her like that. He hasn't even touched his food."

It was true, James' plate lay on the table piled with untouched food. Leaning forwards Sirius waved a hand in front of his friends face, James didn't react, he just continued to stare at Lily.

"Prongs!"

"James!"

"Prongs!"

James didn't react. Sirius sighed this called for drastic measures. He looked at Remus and the blond boy, Peter.

"On three. One. Two Three."

"JAMI" The boys yelled at the top of their voices, using Mrs Potter's nickname for her son. James jumped as did almost everyone in the hall. James turned towards them with a look of confusion.

"Why call me that Padfoot?" He questioned.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Because my dear Prongs, you are head over heels in love with Lily-petal, and can't bear to look away from her abandoning your friends."

"Sorry Pads. What were we talking about?"

Remus started to talk, but stopped when he noticed that James' attention had once again drifted to Lily, he turned to Sirius, but found that his friend was also watching the red head. Following their gaze Remus and Peter watched Lily, as a boy came to a stop beside her.

"Um Lily?"

Lily looked up, into the face of the seventh year Hufflepuff, Dennis Hodgson."Oh Dennis, um hey."

"Hey." Dennis stood there for a second not really sure what to do. "So um, I heard this rumour, on the train. And um well I was wondering whether it was true."

Lily's face reddened slightly "What rumour was that?"

"Well according to Philip, you said that you wanted to have um, um" His voice dropped to a whisper then. "You know what with me."

Lily stared at him, to her horror she saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. She turned to her friends for help, but they were just staring at him. Glancing around she saw that several people were watching her, including James, who's jaw she noticed was clenched and had a strange look on his face. She turned back to Dennis.

"Why would you say that, I mean I wouldn't say..."

"You did Lily, Philip told me and as my best friend and prefect I think I can trust him."

Lily was stuck, she had two choices. One. Tell Dennis that she really did want to sleep with him . Two. Tell him that he had been a excuse to get away from Potter. Neither of them were good, one would hurt him and the other would hurt Potter. Potter why did she care about him? Not finding an answer she looked down. Dennis was still waiting for her reply, luckily Marigold stepped in, saving Lily from embarrassment.

"Come on Lily, we have to go up an unpack."

"Okay" Lily jumped up quickly. "Sorry Dennis, um I have to go."

"But did you say that?" He looked into Lily's eyes, and she only just managed to stop herself from shivering.

"Yes, yes I did say that but I don't mean it, and I never will." Lily turned on her heel and strode out of the hall, with Marigold running to keep up. Lily ran all the way up to the Gryffindor Common Room on the seventh floor, without stopping. Once inside she headed straight for her favourite chair by the fire, curling up on it and summoning her book from her room she settled down to read. Her friends sat around her all doing their own thing.

"Lily?"

The voice startled her, and her head shot up, looking straight into the face of James Potter. He looked worried and tired, Lily could see it in his eyes. They told a lot about a person, and James' eyes definitely gave a lot away.

"Yes"

"I was wondering what, um, what Hodgson wanted?"

"He wanted to know what I said about him was true."

James held his breath. "And what did you say?"

Her voice was soft as she answered. " I said no" she paused then her face hardened . "I don't know why it matters to you though."

Lily stood up very suddenly, she turned to her friends "I'm going to bed." They nodded, saying good night as she passed, disappearing up the girls staircase.

James stared at Lily as she disappeared, then retuned to the corner where his friends were sitting.

"Well?" Sirius asked.

"She told Hodgson it wasn't true."

His three friends look at him. They all knew how much he wanted Lily, and how much it hurt him every time she showed she cared nothing for him.

"What do you make of that then Prongs?"

"Pads, I've already told you, I mean nothing to her, and never will." He slumped down in his seat, eyes fixed on the flames of the fire. After a few minutes he got up and went towards the boys stairs to bed.

As soon as James disappeared, the three remaining Marauders dropped what they were doing, got up and went over to Lily's friends.

"Ladies"

The girls glanced up at Sirius and sighed.

"What do you want?"

"Well I don't know if you've noticed but James still has the hots for Lily-Petal" The girls nodded. "and we" he gestured to Remus and Peter "were wondering what we could do, but we might need your help."

As Lily lay in bed , her mind kept straying back to the events of the day. So much in just one day! But the worst thing was, while every thing else was a blur, the face of James Potter stood out. His face when he was looking at her, his smile, his arms around her waist, and his tired, worried eyes as he spoke with her in the common room. After a while, she dropped into an uneasy sleep.

_The lights were dimmed, casting the common room in an eerie darkness. She was standing by the window looking out over the grounds. Suddenly she felt warm, strong, muscular arms wrap around her waist. She felt warm breath tickle her ear._

"_Guess who, Lily-Petal?" the voice came in a whisper. She sighed leaning back on to the boys muscular chest._

"_I thought you weren't coming" she said softly looking towards the full moon._

"_Do you have so little faith in me?"_

_She smiled and turned her head to look up into James' brown eyes. The two stared into each others eyes, then James slowly bent towards her. His lips hesitated inches away from hers, then they met. _

_She was in heaven, James' lips were soft on hers and she felt a strange feeling in her stomach. It was love._


	4. Confrontations

**A/N. Hey guys, sorry its taken so long to add this chapter. I do have an excuse but I wont bore you with them as i'm gessing you want to get on with the story. So happy fanficing! xxx**

Confrontations

Lily woke with a start, the dream had been so vivid, she could still feel James' wonderful soft lips on hers. She groaned, why was she thinking of Potter, she hated him. Didn't she? _Of course I hate him._ She thought crossly, looking around she could see that the rest of her room mates were still asleep. As quietly as she could, she showered, pulled on her uniform and was down in the common room ten minutes later. It was early enough that no one else was down there. She wondered over to the window that had featured in her dream, and looked out over the grounds and down to the Forbidden Forest. Lily didn't know how long she stood there, but as the first rays of sunlight shone through the clouds, she turned and made her way back to her dorm, to wait for her friends to wake.

An hour later, Lily, Marigold, Alice and Mary were seated in the Great Hall, eating breakfast, when the Marauders, sat down next to them. Lily ducked her head, she didn't want to look at James, not when the dream was still fresh in her mind. James opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Professor McGonagall appeared beside them.

"Right Mr Potter, Mr Black, Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew, here are your timetables, oh and Miss Lucas, you, Miss Evans and Miss McDonald are here as well." She handed them each a piece of parchment. Lily looked around.

"Hey where is Alice? McGonagall didn't say her name."

Marigold and Mary scanned the hall.

"There" Mary's sharp eyes had caught sight of Alice's brown hair. "She's talking to Frank."

Next to them the Marauders were examining their timetables. Sirius turned to Marigold.

"So Goldie, what you got first?"

"Potions. You?"

"Same."

Mary glanced at Lily's "I think we all have the same lessons."

Sirius's eyes met Marigold's and he winked; their plan was going to work! Marigold winked at the others then turned to Lily.

"Lily, I left my potions book in the dorm, can you come with me to get it?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I'll come, I want to drop off a few of my books that I don't need anyway."

The two girls got up and left, not long after that the Marauders and Mary also left, leaving Alice to follow with Frank.

Potions was in the dungeons and taken by Professor Slughorn. When Marigold and Lily finally got there, they found that three of the Marauders and Mary had taken a table, and Alice and Frank another one. Smiling Marigold skipped over to Alice, taking the last free seat beside her. Glaring at her friends Lily scanned the room for some where to sit. Her eyes landed on an empty seat, she stared towards it when she saw the person on the other chair; Severus. Desperately she looked round again, finding another empty seat, this time it was next to James Potter. Lily was stuck, the only two seats free in the whole of the classroom were both next to people she hated. _Potter or Severus? Potter or Severus? _She thought that over and over again as she stood there. The door to the dungeon open and Professor Slughorn entered. Not wanting to be caught without a seat, Lily headed quickly to the nearest of the two.

James looked up from what he was doing when the seat beside him moved, and stared into the sparkling green eyes of Lily Evans.

"Hey"

"No more talking! Get out your books and turn to page 71. Ah Lily, how are you? Did you have a good holiday?" Said professor Slughorn as he came to a stop at the front of the class.

"Yes, thank you sir" She lied smoothly. James stared at her, remembering what she told him on the train, had been the complete opposite. Was Lily lying to him or to Slughorn?

Once the lesson was well under way and Professor Slughorn was out of ear shot, James turned to Lily.

"I thought you said you had a terrible holiday?"

Lily sighed "I did, but if I had told him the truth I would have been subjected to a cross examination, and then Slughorn would have gone on and on about how sad it is that I didn't have a good time."

James nodded, understanding her reasoning. He hesitated then asked.

"What was so bad about it?"

She eyed him up for second, wondering how much, if anything she should tell him. In the end she settled on telling as little as possible, putting in enough detail for him to get a clear picture.

"My sister, Petunia, she hates magic and therefore me. She only spoke to me when absolutely necessary, and when she did she called me a freak." For some reason, Lily didn't find it hard to tell James this – it seemed almost...natural.

The lesson went on, and eventually came to an end. As Lily was about to leave, James grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" he said. Lily turned. "Meet me in the Common Room after school"

Lily frowned. What was he up to? "Erm...Why?"

James grinned. "We need to talk about the meeting on Saturday."

When Lily walked out of the classroom, she found that Marigold was waiting for her outside.

"What did James want?" she asked.

"He asked me to meet him in the common room after school"

_Result_, thought Marigold. Trying not to smile, she said, "And did he say why?"

"He said that we need to talk about the meeting on Saturday"

As Lily made her way to the common room for break, she heard her name called.

"Lily, wait!" Severus Snape was jogging up behind her.

"What do you want?" she snapped. Right now, he was the last person she wanted to talk to.

"I saw that you were sitting next to Potter in Potions earlier. I thought you hated him."

Without thinking, she replied, "Well, times change, Severus"

Shock spread over Snape's face. Unable to let the subject drop, he said "But you could have sat next to me, there was a place."

"Do you really think that I would want to sit beside someone who called me a Mudblood? Especially when that someone used to be my best friend" Her voice was rising and full of hatred.

"I told you -"

"Drop it Snape!"

"But..."

"When I said I didn't want to talk to you again, I meant it." with that, she spun on her heel and stormed off to the library leaving Snape staring after her.

For the rest of the day, Lily was very touchy and was rude to nearly everyone who addressed her. When she stormed into the common room after school, still smouldering, she went over to the fire and stared into the flames. She didn't notice that James had sat down next to her until he spoke.

"Lily? Are you all right?"

Lily turned to see James looking at her, his eyes full of concern for her. She sighed.

"No, I'm not" She paused, studying his face. "I met Snape in the corridor after Transfiguration." she looked back towards the flames.

"And? What happened"

For a second Lily didn't reply. When she did, James had to lean closer to her to hear.

"He asked why I sat next to you."

James bit lip, he wanted to know the answer, but he was cautious not to push Lily too far, so he stayed silent. Lily surprised when James didn't speak, looked up.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I said?"

James smiled, "Yeah, I was but I didn't want to push you, if you want to tell me what happened you can."

Lily stared at him, was this really James Potter, one of the most arrogant boys in school?

"Who are you and what have you done with James Potter?"

James laughed. "Why would you ask that?"

Lily blushed slightly "Well um, your being really nice and it's just completely unnerving."

There was silence between them then. Over by a window the rest of the Marauders, Lily's friends and Frank were watching them.

"It's working" Peter breathed softly

" Yes, for the moment, lets try not to say anything, I mean we don't want to jinx them." The group nodded agreeing with Sirius's advice, and turned back to what they had been doing, trying to ignore the two heads by the fire.

Lily broke the silence. "I told him to go away, I didn't want to speak to after...after what happened after our OWLS."

James winced, he remembered that day by the lake. "I'm sorry."

"What for? For what Severus said? You shouldn't be, it wasn't your fault." _But it was_, the voice in her head told her_. If he and Black hadn't been bored, and made fun of Sev, you would still be friends._

"It was" James interrupted her thoughts. "I was being an idiot and was only thinking about enjoying myself with Sirius, Remus and Peter. Because of me you got hurt, not physically but you lost a friend that day."

Lily smiled slightly. "Okay, I'll go along with that."

After another short pause, James spoke again. "Why did you sit next to me?"

Lily shrugged. "It was either you or Severus, and I'd rather sit next to an annoying arrogant prick, than my former best friend." James winced at her words. Before he could speak Lily continued. "Why weren't you sitting with Black, Lupin and Pettigrew?"

"The bastards didn't bother saving me a place. It was the least they could have done seeing as I was late because of them."

"Why? What did they do?" Lily asked a smile, twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"They levitated all my school stuff out of my bag and had them hanging in the air. They then ran off and left me trying to get them down." He turned and glared towards his friends backs.

Lily laughed, and James stared at her. Lily Evans was laughing at one of their tricks, well Sirius's trick, but that didn't matter. Once Lily had stopped laughing, her face turned serious.

"Okay, so what are we going to say on Saturday? I mean we didn't really give them a good impression of us on the train."

Lily groaned as she entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, the only free seat left in the room was next to James. Slightly angry she sat next to him. It was Friday, and still only the first week. After the excitement of lessons on Monday, time had passed slowly. Lily turned to glare at her friends, sitting in the row behind her, all week she had some how been delayed for her lessons, and every time she finally got to the classroom, the only free seat would be next to James.

"Hey Evans"

Lily didn't answer. Marigold was talking to Mary and making a huge effort not to look at Lily, Alice was to busy chatting to Frank to pay any attention to her.

"Potter" Lily acknowledged, him turning her back on the traitors.

"What's up?"

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but their professor came in and Lily's attention turned to him.

"I can't believe you Mari!" Lily was glaring at her friend.

Marigold glared back. "It's not my fault that you got to the lesson late, and it's also not my fault that there wasn't a space for you next to us!"

"You could have saved me a seat, or..."

"There wasn't a free one!"

"...or sat some where else!"

The girls were in the common room, after lessons. Lily's friends had been avoiding her and when Marigold had finally turned up, thinking Lily was in the Library, she had pounced.

"Oh yes okay, so next time I'll just kick a load of people out of their seats saying "sorry, but my very best friend, the most amazing head girl, Lily Evans, wants to sit next to us so could you please move to make space for her" yeah that will sound wonderful"

"Or maybe, YOU could sit some where else."

"I don't know why your upset, James didn't care that his friends didn't save him a seat"

"That's because, James is on cloud nine when I sit next to him! I've sat next to him more times this bloody week than humanly possible." Lily screeched, panting heavily, not realising that she had used James' first name. The girls stared at one an other. Then Marigold spoke.

"I'm sorry Lily, I should have moved to where there was two desks free, but I just didn't think about it."

Lily nodded "That all right. I guess I over reacted a bit, too. Friends?"

"Friends" Marigold agree, grabbing Lily's out-stretched hand, smiling.


	5. Quidditch and Crashes

**A/N Hey this is the co-writer. Hoping that you are enjoying the story so far! The next few chapters should be getting a bit more exiting. If any of you have any suggestions, please tell us, and we will see if we can put them in, but we guarantee nothing :)

* * *

**

Quidditch and Crashes

After the first week, the time went faster. Marigold and Lily forgot about their argument, and Lily always got a seat as far away from James as possible, which wasn't far as Marigold, Mary and Alice sat as close as possible. Soon the first Quidditch match of the season was upon them: Gryffindor vs Slytherin. James was the Seeker and the Captain, so he had been out on the pitch with his team at every possible moment, which meant that he forgot his head boy duties. Strangely enough Lily didn't shout at him, she just went along with it all, and didn't complain. Although James took this as a good sign, he promised Lily to catch up by doing extra duties.

Tensions were running high, the day of the match. Slytherins were flinging insults at the Gryffindors on the team. James sat down in the great hall with a sigh. Sirius looked at his best friend.

"Cheer up mate, your gonna win, it's inevitable"

"Yeah come on James" Marigold cried taking the seat opposite him, already dressed in her Quidditch robes. "We are going to thrash those snakes!"

James smiled at Marigold's enthusiasm. That girl was so energetic, it was ridicules and it was only 8.00 in the morning. The hall started to fill up with students and after all the Gryffindor team had eaten, James got them up and out to the pitch.

Twenty minutes later the stands around the pitch began to fill. Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Mary had got seats near the top, where they could see the whole pitch. Lily was jumping up and down with excitement, she couldn't wait. Spending the whole summer alone without her friends, magic and Quidditch, she was desperate for the last part to fall into place. Suddenly there was a whoosh of green and silver, as the Slytherins appeared, cheering broke out from the green and silver decorated part of the stands. As if in answer, the Gryffindors appeared, the sun glinting off their gold and red robes. The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws cheered, this was the only time of the year that three of the houses cheered for the same team at the same match, especially when that match was against Slytherin.

The players took their places, as the referee walked out into the middle of the pitch, bending down she released the bludgers, and the snitch.

"On my whistle" she called picking up the qwaffle. "Three, two one!" The sharp noise reverberated around the stands. And the players were off. Streaks of gold and green flew around the pitch. Lily's eyes followed Marigold, as the girl dodged a bludger and three Slytherin chasers, and charging full speed at the goal posts.

"GO MARI!" Lily shouted suddenly, making everyone around her jump, Sirius glared at her.

"Jesus Evans, keep it down, you made me lose sight of James."

The cheering that erupted from the stands as Marigold scored, blocked out Lily's reply. The game continued, with the Gryffindors scoring several more times. James was scanning the skies, searching for the little golden ball, having had no luck so far, the Slytherin seeker was having just as much of hard time. James turned his head slightly, glancing towards the stands where he could see his friends and Lily sitting. He smiled the red head was following the games closely, he could see as her head followed the ball back and forth. A groan shook the stands as the Slytherins scored, bringing their score up to 60; Gryffindor had 180. Then James spotted a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye, quickly he turned and shot after the snitch.

"GO PRONGS!" Sirius had spotted his friends sudden change of direction. At once everyone's attention switched to James.

"COME ON JAMES!" Lily found herself standing up next to Sirius, unaware that she was shouting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius shoot her an astonished look. She reddened slightly – she'd called James by his name, and cheered him on!

Yells filled the stands as James shot through the air, the Slytherin seeker right on his tail. James' hand was inches from the golden ball when a bludger, came out of now where and struck him on the side of the head. James went limp and fell towards the ground. People started to scream, James was more than ten meters off the ground. Marigold bent low over her broom and shot towards James like a bullet, somehow she managed to catch him a few meters above the ground. A huge sigh or relief, started to spread, when Marigold's broom dropped from the air, with the extra weight of James, Marigold couldn't control her broom. Just before they hit the ground Marigold pulled up hard on the handle, making the broom rise. Unfortunately, James' unconscious form slipped from her grasp and he fell to the floor.

Sirius was out of his seat as soon as James had fallen, Remus and Peter close behind him. They didn't notice that someone had followed they until they heard her voice.

"Do you think he's okay?" They turned to see Lily standing there her eyes focused on James.

"No idea Evans, that bludger hit him pretty hard." Sirius' eyes were full of worry, as he pushed passed Lily and ran onto the pitch. James was lying on the ground, blood streaming down his face from a gash on his forehead, and his arm was twisted at an odd angle.

A stretcher was brought onto the pitch, and James was levitated onto it, and taken to the Hospital Wing. Lily was watching carefully from the edge of the pitch, and as the stretcher went past, she hesitated, she wanted to follow them, to make sure James was okay. _No, _she thought. _I'll go along later, otherwise Black will think I like James. Potter! Oh God, what is wrong with me?_

Later that day Lily made her way to the Hospital Wing. When she walked in ,she noticed that only Sirius was by James' bedside. He looked up as she came in. Lily saw that his face was streaked with worry.

"He's still not come round yet" he said, his voice cracking. Lily stared at him, she had never seen Sirius like this before, slowly she reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly.

"Do you want me to sit with you?" She asked gently. Sirius nodded. Lily sat down on the seat around the other side of the bed, and for the first time looked at James' face. The cut on his forehead had been healed and his arm was in a sling, but his face was still, and his breathing shallow. A few minutes later, Sirius spoke.

"I have to go for a detention with Filch." he hesitated, then looked up at Lily. "Um..."

Lily smiled. "It's okay, I'll stay with him."

Sirius returned the smile. "Thanks, Lily-Petal."

As soon as Sirius had gone Lily took hold of James' hand. It was only just warm. He looked so lifeless it made Lily's eyes fill with tears. Worn out with the excitement of the last few hours, Lily lent forward and rested her head on the bed, inches from James' shoulder, and fell asleep.


	6. Healing, Friends and Mudbloods

A/N. Hey guys, hope your all enjoying the story. Now this is a for warning(But not a very good one) this Tuesday the co-writer(Em) and myself are going on a geography field trip for ten days so there won't be another chapter for a while. So our deepest apologies from Em and Angie(me) and have fun reading the next chapter. :)

Healing, Friends and Mudbloods

Three days later, James woke up. It was evening, and the Hospital Wing was in darkness. As he was taking in surroundings, he noticed that someone was holding his hand. He slowly turned his head – it was still sore – and saw that there beside the bed, was Lily Evans, fast asleep, her red hair still visible through the darkness. He squeezed her hand gently, and slowly drifted back to sleep. When he woke again it was light, and Lily was gone. In her place sat his three friends.

"Prongs!" Sirius cried, his face full of relief. Looking round James, saw that Remus and Peter had the same look.

"How long have I been out?" he asked

"Days" said Remus. "We were starting to get seriously worried!"

"And we weren't the only ones" Sirius added wickedly.

The three boy looked at him.

"What do you mean?" asked Peter.

"Well a certain young red head came a-visiting" explained Sirius.

James sighed. "Okay. How many times was Lily here?"

"About three or four times..."

"I thought..." James started, but he was interrupted by Sirius.

"...A day"

"What!"

"Yeah, before school, after school, during break, during lunch and in the evenings till 10 and once later!"

"Wait, I thought you said she didn't care for you!" Peter said to James, curiously.

"I did Wormtail. I thought she didn't care..." James stared out the window opposite, with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Right so what..."

"Hold on" James interrupted Sirius again. "School finished right?" The boys nodded. "So where's Lily? I mean if she was here almost all the time where is she now?"

"Well turns out that our dear Lily-Petal has been neglecting her homework."

"What!" James laughed. He couldn't believe that _Lily Evans _of all people wasn't doing her work.

"Yeah, we know. About half an hour ago, Goldie, Shorty and Donny marched in here and had to literally carry Evans out. Little Petal was complaining so loudly that Madam Pomfrey came and shouted at her for making to much noise." Sirius was now unable to control his laughter. The rest of the Marauders joined in.

"Okay" said Remusonce they'd all calmed down. "Thought you should know mate..."

The door to the Hospital opened and Lily walked in, a scowl etched on her face. She stared at the group.

"Thanks for telling them where I was Black."

"No problem Lily-Petal, it was a pleasure." then to James. "Sorry mate, I forgot. Filch gave me a detention."

"Another one?" Lily asked suspiciously.

Glancing at Lily, he said, "Er, yeah. Um, gotta go Prongs."

Sirius left with a meaningful look at Peter and Remus. Quickly they too jumped up.

"Ah Peter, you wanted me to help you with that transfiguration prep didn't you?"

Peter nodded and the two boys left, leaving Lily and James alone. Lily frozen on the spot, felt a blush creep on to her cheeks, as James studied her intently. There was an awkward silence, which was broken by James after a few minutes.

"So um.. I... uh... heard that you came to visit me?" The question hung in the air, and Lily's blush deepened. _Oh god, does he know how many times I was here?_

"Um... yeah, I came to check up, just in case, you were better... as you um still need to catch up on those duties you missed..." There was another silence, broken yet again by James.

"I woke up last night." Lily's head shot up. "And I...I saw your head lying on my bed, and you were asleep. Holding my hand..."

"Oh God" she said, almost in-audibly, her eyes staring down into her lap. James sat up and swung his legs out of the bed. Lily looked at him.

"Shouldn't you..."

"I've been resting enough Evans, and I hate it in here anyway." He stood up, but Lily pushed him back.

"Don't you _dare_ get out of bed James Potter. You were hit in the head by a bludger, fell several meters to the ground and have been unconscious for three days. And if you think that I am just going to let you get up and walk out of here, as soon as you have woken up you are mistaken. I lost sleep over you, I was late for my lessons because of you and I abandoned my homework because of you and _all you do is say you hate it here!_"

James stared at her incredulously. "I thought that you didn't care about me?"

"I...I.." Lily stopped, turning to look out the window. "Times change" she whispered. Then she turned back with forced indifference. "I got all the work you missed, I mean we do have our NEWTs this year and it is imperative that you don't fall behind on your studies."

"Evans."

"and also, you have your Head Boy duties to catch up on..."

"EVANS!"

"I'm sorry. I'm just...oh I don't know. I don't know what's up with me, I'm just..."

James interrupted her, by lifting her face so he could look into her eyes."You're tired Lily. Go up to the common room, chill out and then get an early night. Okay?"

Lily sighed. "I suppose your right." she said. Then she perked up a bit, and said, "Well, get out of here soon Jam- er, Potter, otherwise you will be back in here because the stress of catching up with all your work will be too much for you to cope with." and with that she left, James stared after her with a small grin on his face.

The next evening, Madam Pomfrey said that James was free to go. As he made his way up to Gryffindor tower, he was intercepted by Sirius, who was going for yet another detention. He grinned when he saw James.

"Prongs mate, you're out! I'll see you later – off for another detention!"

"Anther one? Jeez Pads! Get bored much?" Sirius laughed. "Oh, anyone in the common room, or are they all in bed?"

"Ermm...I think everyone's gone to bed. I can't remember." and with that, he dashed off.

When James entered the common room he went straight to the chairs by the fire. He was about to sit down when he saw Lily curled up in an armchair, reading a book.

"Lily?"

Lily looked up, the look of annoyance disappearing, when she saw who had interrupted her.

"James! I thought you would be in Hospital for ages."

James grinned; Lily was happy to see him and there was no way he was going to ruin it by telling her she had used his first name.

"Yeah, I think Pomfrey got fed up with me." Lily gave him a questioning look. "I got bored, so I was messing around with my wand and played a few tricks on Pomfrey."

"Well then you must be better, did you see Black?"

"I did. What's with him and all these detentions he's got?"

Lily smiled. "As far as I can work out two of his so called detentions were false, but this one is genuine."

"How did he get it?"

"Yesterday he transformed all the stairs into slides, but they only changed once he had got down them."

James laughed, "Oh god, wish I was there to see it." He paused, glanced at the clock and sighed. "So where's all this work I've got to do?" Lily stared at him in surprise. "Might as well start it now." James shrugged, and watched as Lily summoned the work, and after explaining what to do, they both settled down.

At breakfast the next day, James was the centre of attention. People crowded round him asking if he was okay and if his arm hurt.

"Maybe it would have been better if I had stayed in the Hospital." He groaned as he finally sat down. Lily laughed, and her friends stared at her.

"Lily, um what wrong with you?" Marigold asked concerned.

"Nothing, I'm just happy,and I don't know why."

"I know why" Sirius cried appearing next to Mary, making everyone jump. "Your happy because you have Potions first!"

"Yay!" Lily's voice was full of sarcasm. "Potions with Slughorn, my favourite"

"You didn't let me finish, Lily-Petal! You have Potions with the most wonderful, amazing, most handsomest, cleverest person in the entire wide world; Muggle and Magic.

"Do you mean Dennis Hodgson?" Alice questioned. Sirius looked at her shocked.

"No Shorty, not Hodgson. I meant me!" The group laughed and in high spirits they headed to the dungeons. They were about to enter the classroom when someone called out.

"Lily!"

Lily's smile disappeared when she saw who it was. "Severus."

Severus came to a stop beside her, breathing hard. "I want to talk to you."

"What about?" She glanced behind her where Marigold was watching her by the door, a few feet away from her, but still with a view of the corridor, stood James.

"Why did you spend so much time at Potters bedside?"

"He was hurt." She tried to avoid the question. Severus wasn't fooled.

"You said you hated him! At the end of fifth year, you said you hated him and would never be friends with him!"

"Listen Severus, Potter is head boy, he was hurt, and I as head girl felt like I had a duty to go and visit him. Is that okay with you? Or do I have to check everything with you before I do it?"

"No, but I don't understand why you are wanting to be friends with him, he's a Pureblood! He could go running to You-Know-Who at any time. I mean who's to say..."

"James would never go to Voldemort, even if he is a Pureblood. If anyone goes to that bastard it will be you! Now leave me alone!" Angrily Lily turned on her heels and stormed into the class, sitting down next to Alice and Mary.

As soon as the class had finished Lily was out of her seat and heading for the door, she wanted to avoid another conversation with Severus. Some how she managed to stay clear of him all day, until that evening. Lily had just finished dinner and was heading up the stairs, when Severus caught her up.

"Lily! Lily please wait!"

Lily didn't know why she did, but she stopped and turned to look at him, scowling.

"Didn't you understand what I told you this morning?"

"What about Potter not being on You-Know-Who's side? No I didn't under..."

"I told you to leave me alone. Which if I remember correctly I told you to do at the end of fifth year."

"But Lily, Potter is a bad influence. I am so much better than him, and I'm a half-blood."

"I don't care whether your a half-blood or not. You insulted me, and then you try to make it up. Get it into your thick skull Severus, or do I need to spell it out for you? WE ARE NOT FRIENDS."

Severus' face crumpled slightly, and Lily almost apologised, when a group of five Slytherins rounded the corner.

"Hey Snape!" One of them called. "We were wondering where you got to and... oh hey a Mudblood." At the word 'Mudblood', the four remaining boys perked up.

"Look it's little Miss Head Girl herself, well aren't we going to have a lot of fun."

Worry careered through Lily, she was good at magic but not so good that she could defend herself against five, possibly six Slytherins.

"Stop." Severus said.

"Oh bit protective of the little filth aren't we Snape? Come on name her. What is she?"

Snape looked into Lily's eyes, and then lowered his head.

"Mudblood" His voice was so quiet they could hardly hear him.

"Didn't here that. What is she?"

Severus lifted his head, and Lily saw his eyes full of hatred. "She's a Mudblood."

The boys whooped and clapped, jeering at Lily, then started back down the stairs. For an instant Lily wondered why they hadn't tried to attack her, but Severus caught her attention.

"Lily, I'm sorry. I had to say that, I couldn't keep quiet. You don't know what they would have done to me."

"Shut up, and save your apologise for someone who cares!"

She turned quickly knowing that she was about to lose control, and ran straight into James. Lily stared at him, _that is why they didn't try anything_, she thought as she spotted Black and Remus behind him.

"Lily" James reached out trying to grab her, but she stepped away from him and sprinted up the stairs. James glanced at his friends, then turned and followed her, leaving Sirius and Remus to deal with Snape.

"Not so fast Snivelus" James heard Sirius say. "Your not getting off that easy, especially after calling Evans a Mudblood, you stinking little snake." The voices behind him faded as he chased Lily. By the time James had reached the seventh floor Lily had disappeared. He decided to try the common room first but only found Marigold, Alice and Frank there. James wondered back down the stairs, and along a corridor, passing Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and... _The Bathroom!_ James thought, _that is the only place Lily could go without being disturbed._

"Lily?" James stepped into the room, and listened. He could hear someone crying. He followed the sounds until he came to the end cubicle, gently he pushed the door open. Lily sat there on the floor, tears rolling down her face, seeing her like that almost broke James' heart.

"Lily?" He repeated, her head shot up.

"James" She croaked. "What are you doing here" She tried to wipe her tears away, but was unsuccessful.

James bent down, and slowly lifted a hand to her face. Lily watched him as his hand came closer and closer. She didn't shy away or flinch as his fingers made contact with her cheek wiping away some tears.

"I heard what Snivelus said to you. He was mean, and I wish I could have hexed him into the next century, for what he did to you."

"Why didn't you?"

James smiled ruefully. "I can't can I Lils? I'm head boy, but luckily my ever faithful and trusted best friends were on hand to help. They won't let Snivelus get away, trust me."

"I do James" and with that, Lily leant forward, and pulled James into a hug. _Okay..._James thought. _She's hugging me. Well James you old buffoon, hug her back!_

James tightened his arms around her. _She trusts me. Oh my god, don't panic Prongs, just because your holding the girl you love in your arms there is no need to panic!_


	7. Muddling Mistakes

AN. Hey guys. we hope your all enjoying the story, and want to again thank you for reading it. we alos want to thank everybody who has review the story so far. I wont ramble on any more as I'm all sure you want to read this chapter so enjoy. :)

Muddling Mistakes

After the incident with Severus, Lily's friends stuck close to her, they were all Pureblood or Halfblood and were in no danger. Lily found out that Sirius and Remus had got detentions for hexing Severus and tried to get them out of it, however it was impossible. She thanked both of them for what they had done and promised to pay them back. The day after the encounter, Lily and Marigold had spotted Severus in a rage, after Sirius and James had turned his greasy black hair into worms, and was unable to change it back. To the Marauders surprise Lily didn't seem to care, as she had sat in the common room later and rolled on the floor in laughter. The days started to go faster and the seventh years threw themselves into work, which was being piled on top of them, by their teachers.

The weather began to get colder, as the term slipped into October, then November. Halloween came and went without any big celebration, and talk of the evil wizard, who called himself Lord Voldermort started to surface and then promptly disappeared. Marigold's seventieth birthday came and went and was celebrated by a huge party that the Marauders and her friends threw. By the time December came all, the students were looking forward to a proper break and Christmas.

It was the last trip to Hogsmead before the Christmas holidays. Lily and her friends were sitting in a corner making plans for their visit to the village.

"I want to go to Honeydukes" Mary stated. Lily rolled her eyes.

"We know Mary, but we're all going to split up, so we can buy each other presents"

"But I need chocolate!" the girls chose to ignore their friend.

"So I still need gifts for my brother, and one of my cousins who is at mine for Christmas." Alice stated. "But I can get them when I go home."

"Wow, your much better prepared than me, I still need to get all the presents for my family." Lily sighed. "And I don't even know what I should get Petunia, she doesn't like anything magical!"

"Why even get her anything?" Sirius said coming up behind the girls making, them jump. "I mean she's being really mean to you, so technically you don't have to get her anything."

"Yeah" said James, appearing beside Sirius. "isn't there this man that brings you presents down the chimney, but only when your nice?"

"Well, yes, but she is my sister and family, and no matter what she has done, she should have some sort of gift."

The boys stared at her, with confused looks. James had always got presents no matter what he had done and Sirius had never felt like part of his family, so neither of them understood Lily's reasoning.

"But is she's mean..." Sirius started

"She is still my sister and family Black, and no matter what I love her."

The group was silent for a minute or two until Marigold spoke.

"Do you guys want to join us in Hogsmead? We will be splitting up at some point but we're planning on meting at the Three Broomsticks for lunch."

"Sounds like fun," James said grinning. "is Remus invited too?"

"Of course, we can't have two of the Marauders and not have the other one, oh wait there's four of you. What about Peter?"

James and Sirius shrugged. "He can come if he wants to."

* * *

The next day the Seventh years were up early, ready to make the most of the day ahead of them. The air was crisp and cold as they stepped out of the doors, wrapping their coats and scarves around them, they headed towards the village. Once there the group split the girls all going separate ways and the boys heading towards Zonkos Joke shop. After a couple hours they met at the Three Broomsticks, laden down with their purchases.

"Lily-Petal what did you get me!"

Sirius jumped out on Lily as soon as she approached.

"Your just gonna have to wait till Christmas day Black."

"So you did get me something!" His face lit up. "That's five galleons Moony"

Remus rolling his eyes he handed over the money. Full of excitement Sirius started jumping around.

"Prongs! Guess what?" Sirius yelled spotting James.

"Um what?"

"Lily-Petal got me a present. But she won't tell me what it is." he pouted.

"Well what am I supposed to do about it?"

"You could tell your stubborn head girl to tell me!"

"Pads mate, if we all told each other what we got them before Christmas, what would be the point in it?"

For this Sirius had no answer, but that did not stop him, from asking every single member of their group, to find out what Lily had got for him. By the time they had all reassembled, Lily was laughing her head off, clutching at her sides, while Sirius was sitting cross legged on the floor, a massive pout fixed on his face. James and Remus were also trying to cover up their laughter, but failing. Marigold was beside Sirius trying to coax him to stand up. Mary (who was the last to arrive) stared at them.

"What's going on?"

No one managed to answer, however Sirius at the sound of her voice, looked up.

"Donny!" The black haired boy jumped up. "Can you do something for me?" Mary nodded her head. "Can you ask Evans what she has got me for Christmas? Because she isn't telling me and none of my friends are helping."

The group laughed harder, and a small smile started to spread on Mary's face.

"No Sirius, I won't."

"This is so unfair!"

"Come on Padfoot," James grabbed his friend. "Lets go inside, I'm cold and you have managed to get a whole load of attention with your shouting."

Trampling inside the group found a free table and sat down. Sirius disappeared towards the bar and returned with six Butterbeer bottles. James raised his eyebrows at Sirius in a questioning manner, and Sirius nodded. The tray was placed on the table, and Lily reached for the nearest one.

"Wait Lily-Petal. That's um... not yours."

"What's wrong with that one aren't they all the same?"

"Errr no," Sirius's eyes darted to James. "It...well... that one is James'" He finally said.

"Yeah," James jumped in. "I have err... ginger in my uh Butterbeer."

"Well if that's the case it shouldn't matter, as I have ginger as well."

The boys looked at each other uneasily, what were they going to do.

_Dammit, dammit, dammit. How the hell are we going to get out of this? Prongs can't tell Evans that there's Fire Whiskey in there! _Sirius started to panic, James was also wondering what to do, when Remus stepped in.

"Sirius how many Butterbeer's did you get with ginger in?"

"Err one or maybe two?"

"You can't remember?" Sirius shook his head.

"Right" James stood up, grabbing the tray, "Padfoot and I will go and find out what he ordered, and get another Butterbeer if necessary."

The boys hurried towards the bar, once they were out of earshot, James turned to Sirius.

"Pads what happened were is our Fire Whisky?"

"In there Prongs, I charmed the bottle, I mean Lily-Petal would have blown up if she knew what was in there."

"Okay" James sighed. "Have any of them got ginger in?" Sirius nodded. "Right so the bottles that have whisky in them, we put on one side, and the Butterbeer on the other. Just make sure that we get the whisky side of the tray."

Quickly the bottles were changed and the two headed back to their table.

"Here we go, problem sorted."

Gratefully the bottles were ceased by the thirsty teens.

"So" Marigold started. "Who's going home for Christmas?"

When they returned from the village, they were all in good spirits, especially the boys. Lily was suspicious as she knew that two bottles of Butterbeer, would not have had that much of an effect-James and Sirius skipping all the way back to the castle, and even Remus seemed a little unsteady. By the time the girls had reached the common room, the three Marauders were no where to be seen.

"What's up with James, Sirius and Remus?" Alice asked as they joined her by the fire.

"No idea. Why?"

"Well all three of them just came running in here and headed straight up their staircase, all of them looking quite ill."

"Don't suppose it would do any harm to go up and see if they're okay?" as she spoke Marigold started to edge towards the boys staircase. Lily shrugged.

"Go if you want I don't care." she sat down next to Alice, thinking. _Okay, so in the village, we went shopping separately, went to the Three Broomsticks, had the mix up with the drinks, started to... wait a mix up with the drinks. Could they? Would they? Which one of them is of age? Oh my god Sirius! Black is of age and he got the drinks. Those idiots! Did they think I wouldn't notice?_ Lily jumped up, and hurried up the boys staircase, ignoring Alice and Mary's voices. She pushed through the seventh years dorm and glared at the three boys laying on their beds.

"You idiots! Did you really think that you would get away with it? That I wouldn't notice?" Marigold stared at her from her position by Sirius' bed. "I thought that you had more sense, and Remus why go along with them? Your a prefect and you should know better. And you Potter, your head boy! Yes did you forget about that? The fact that your supposed to be setting an example to the younger students and _not_ break the rules. I don't..."

"Keep it down Evans!" James lifted his head from the pillow. "I get it. Okay. I'm sorry, but seriously no one knew, we were drinking. All they saw was bottles of Butterbeer."

Lily stared at James, his face was pale, and his hair rumpled, she glanced at the other boys, all were in a similar state. _They do look quite ill. I suppose I can shout at them later._ With one final glare at them, Lily left.

Instead of staying in the common room she went to her own dorm, and found a letter on her bed. Glancing at it she realised it was from her parents. Lily grabbed it, ripping the envelope open.

_My dearest Lily,_

_We hope you are having a good time and working hard. No doubt you and your friends are excited for Christmas. How is Marigold by the way? Give her our love and tell her we can't wait to see her again. I imagine you are wondering what this letter is about seeing as Marigold would be the one you bring home for Christmas. Do you remember your great uncle Robert? Actually I won't be surprised if you don't, seeing as you were still a little baby when you last met. Anyway, poor Robert is ill and as your Father is his only living relative left, we are going up to stay in his house for a while. I know, I know, why must we go up and stay with someone we hardly know? Well sweetheart it's more than just dad being his only family, Robert is in hospital, so it's quite serious. He needs us to look after his daughter; I know he's quite old but he has a ten year old daughter! So anyway we are in Somerset, and we don't know how long we are going to be there. Unfortunately we won't be at home for Christmas and Roberts house is too small for any more people to come, so would you mind if you stayed at school? I know you don't have much choice, but I thought that it would be better for it to seam as if you had a choice, although Petunia is at home and you can join her...if you want. _

_Anyway my beautiful daughter, I must go. I have included the address of the house in case you want to write. Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year._

_Lots of love _

_Mum and Dad xxx_

Lily stared at the letter for a long time, racking her mind for any memory of her great uncle Robert, but none came. She was still sitting there when Marigold entered the dorm.

"Hey, there you are" she sounded annoyed. "What was all that in the boys room? I mean couldn't you see that they were ill?"

"Ill" Lily scoffed. "more like feeling the effect of too much alcohol"

"Alcohol? What do you mean? The boys weren't drinking alcohol, I mean they're not that stupid to drink in front of you, especially when they know what your like."

"Yeah, they know what I'm like, but that doesn't seem to stop them."

"Wow, they must be idiots. Trust you to notice the boys little rebellion, even when they went to extremes to hide it." they laughed.

"It's going to be funny tomorrow when they come down with hangovers. Luckily for them its a Sunday."

The next morning the girls were already up when the Marauders stumbled down to the common room. Remus was the first to arrive, bleary eyed and pale, in fact he looked the worst out of all of the boys. James and Sirius appeared almost an hour after him. Lily's breath caught in her throat as she saw James. _He looks so cute with his hair like that...Lily Evans! Stop thinking like that, he does not look cute...oh but he does. Shut up annoying voice in my head. I can't think like that, he drank Fire Whiskey during a school trip-and he's head boy...but you can't be angry at him, because you... _

"Lily? Hey, earth to Lily" a hand was waving backwards and forwards in front of her face. Lily looked up surprised. "Finally." Marigold sighed. "I'm starting to think your the one with a hangover Lil"

Lily moved over on the sofa making room for James to sit down. He groaned and leant his head back. Lily smiled.

"Well this should teach you boys not to drink excessive amounts of alcohol."

"Evans if your going to yell at us do it now and get it over with." Sirius deposited himself on the floor, grabbing a cushion, putting it over his head and laying down.

"Why, would I shout at you?"

"Because that is what you do, you shout at Prongs when he's done something stupid, and irresponsible"

Lily shrugged and turned to James. "How're you feeling?"

"Completely and utterly awful."

"Poor thing." Lily stroked his arm. "Well you look a hell of a lot better than Remus."

"True but that's because it's almost full m...uh almost the anniversary of his dogs death." James corrected himself hurriedly, cursing himself mentally for almost giving the secret away. If Lily noticed anything, she didn't say anything, which made James wonder if she knew. Instead they both found themselves staring into each others eyes.

"Oh Lily" Marigold's voice broke their gaze, and they turned to look at her. "Who was that letter from that you were reading yesterday and what was it about?"

"My parents, turns out that we can't go there for Christmas."

"Why not?"

"Some kind of uncle is ill and my mum and dad need to look after his kid."

"So are they at his house then?"

Lily nodded "Well I could go home but Petunia is there and yeah..." She trailed off, Marigold's eyes widened.

"Well I as your would be guest refuse to be stuck in a house with you big Muggle sister, who thinks it's okay to call her sibling names, which means I am forcing you to stay at school, with me."

"Why can't I just come to your house?"

"Seeing as my parents thought I was going to yours they decided to go on holiday with my little brother, so its a no go."

"Ah oh well. Hey do you know what a ten year old girl would like as a Christmas present?"

"Um no.."

"What about some kind of animal?" The girls turned surprised to look at James. "What I have a little sister and that's what she wants."

"Sister?" Alice, Marigold, Lily and Mary said at the same time, looking surprised.

"Well technically she's my cousin but she's been living with us for so long she's like my sister."

"Ahh sweet little Amy," Sirius raised his head. "Are we going home for Christmas Prongs?"

"Err...no. Mum and Dad are taking Amy to visit one of their friends in America."

His face split into a huge grin "Yay! Lily-Petal, and Goldie are staying as well. We're going to have the best Christmas ever!"


	8. Holiday Happiness and Harrasement

AN/ Hi guys, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. HAPPY EASTER!

Holiday Happiness and Harassment

The days flew by and soon the holidays were upon them, the corridors were crammed full of students heading towards the Hogwarts Express and London. Three of the students however were not concerned about going home, in fact they were whizzing around the school, under dissalution charms, on their broomsticks, throwing water bombs at unsuspecting people; including teachers. James grinned as he sped out of a corridor and hovered over the staircases for a second, before nose diving straight down only pulling up centimetres from the sea of heads clustered in the Entrance Hall. Sirius flew passed him enchanting balloons to jump out of his bag. Remus was on the other side of the hall hovering in a corner not really joining in, when suddenly he spotted Lily marching down the stairs, a scowl on her face. She stopped, surveying the scene before her.

"Potter! Black!" People turned to look at her, thinking she was mad. "Stop this right now, and get up to the common room" Lily was about to go when she pulled out her wand "Acio balloons"

The boys watched in dismay as their ammunition flew away from them, just before they hit her, Lily waved her wand again, turning the balloons into confetti. With out waiting to see what happened Lily spun on her heel and left. Ignoring the warning looks given to him James followed her out.

"Lily! Wait!" Lily turned to face him.

"What do you want Potter? And don't ask me what's wrong, because that does not concern you."

When the boys arrived in the common room, they saw Lily shouting at a group of sixth years, for accidentally knocking into her. Marigold saw them enter and hurried over to them.

"Don't speak to Lily at the moment. She's a little bit annoyed."

"Little bit, is an understatement" said Sirius raising his eyes as Lily raised her wand preparing to hex them.

"Expelliarmus!" Lily's wand flew out of her hand, she turned, her green eyes flashing, to see James pointing his wand at her, and holding her own in his hand.

"POTTER!"

"Evans." James said calmly, his face hard. "What are you doing? You can't hex people, you of all people know that."

"Stop being a hypocrite Potter. You do it all the time, so what's wrong when I do it?"

"Because it's not you. Lily Evans does not go round hexing random people, she goes around helping people and giving out detentions."

Lily stared at him, and he took a step towards her.

"Lily, what's happened?"

She swallowed, "Nothing." tears were threatening to spill from her eyes, "James can I have my wand back please?"

James took a step towards her, ignoring the warning looks from Marigold and Sirius. "Only if you tell me what's wrong." Lily started to turn away, "Lily" James grabbed her arm. "I want to help you, your unhappy and I can't bear that. Please tell me what's wrong."

Lily sighed, "It's my sister, I...I sent her her present last week and got it back today all smashed up and...and it showed me how pointless it is to try and get back what we had. I mean I went to so much trouble to find something non-magical for her and all she does it break it."

James stared at Lily, in all the years he had known her, he had never seen her so close to losing it since her run in with Snape. Taking a breath James put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"If she acts like that Lils, she's not worth it. I know she's your sister and all, but she is so not worth it."

Lily nodded into James' chest. "I know, it's just hard. I have to accept that she will never be my sister again."

They stayed there for several minutes holding each other before, moving over to one of the sofas by the fire, and talking about anything and everything. _Just so she can forget what a bitch her sister is being _James thought.

For the rest of the days leading up to Christmas, James and Sirius caused as much chaos and havoc as they possibly could. People were surprised that Lily didn't tell them off, as every single prank or trick happened, when she was with the Marauders. James and Sirius were happy to see that Lily seemed to have forgotten about Petunia, they, Remus, Marigold and Mary tried to fill Lily's days with as many activities as possible. Lily knew what they were doing as was grateful, that they looked out for her, _even if it gets a bit annoying_ she thought as she was dragged out of the Library, by James to play Quiddich. As it got closer and closer to Christmas, it got colder. The appearance of the usual twelve Christmas trees in the great hall reminded Lily of Hagrid, the half giant Gamekeeper. The weather however seemed to want to torture them as only a light dusting of snow had fallen by Christmas Eve. The Gryffindor Seventh years sat in the common room around the fire discussing what they would have been doing if they were at home. The only people who had stayed, were James, Sirius, Remus, Marigold, Mary and of course Lily. Alice had gone to stay with Frank and Peter had gone home to his mother.

James sighed. "If we were at home now, we could be having a snowball fight and building a snowman."

"Yeah, with Amy knocking it all down and winning in the snowball fight, cause you can't bear to let her lose." Sirius glared at James, "That sister of yours is vicious if she doesn't get what she wants."

James laughed, "Which is why Pads you give her what she wants."

Lily watched them her eyes running over James, absorbing every piece of him. "I would love to meet her." her friends looked at her. "Well anyone who can annoy the hell out of Black I want to meet."

"Betrayal Lily-Petal after all I have done for you the past seven years, you want to thank me by setting Prongs little sister on me! Betrayal." The group laughed at Sirius as he clutched his heart and slipped off the sofa onto the floor.

"Okay Sirius, I'm sorry for my up coming betrayal, if I ever get to meet Amy."

A smile came across Sirius' face and he jumped up, looking at James "Yay, can we play hide and seek?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because"

"Why?"

"Just because Pads okay." James voice sounded irritated, but everyone could see he was hiding a smile.

"I'll play with you Sirius." Lily got up. "This is your pay back from hexing Snape."

A smile started to spread onto his face, then it disappeared. "Does this mean I don't get my present? Cause if so, we don't really need to play."

Lily laughed, "Of course you still get your present. I'm not that mean."

"Good" the smile had returned. "I'm hiding first, count to 100 Lily-Petal, with your eyes closed."

Sirius waited till Lily eyes fluttered shut and then he was off out of the Portrait hole and tearing off down the corridor.

Two hours later a very frustrated Lily return to Gryffindor Tower. She threw herself down into one of the chairs, causing her friends to look up.

"Hey Lily, what's wrong?"

"I can't find Black any where and I've been all over the bloody castle."

"Well you must have missed a spot." Mary said "Did you look in the Owlery?"

"Wait, don't forget Sirius is a Marauder, and they know every inch of this place, possibly better than the teachers and Dumbledore himself." Marigold turned to where James and Remus were sitting. "Oi, James, Remus! Where is the best hiding place around here?" the two Marauders looked up.

"Not found Sirius yet then?"

Lily shook her head.

"I'll show you where he is." offered James standing up. "It's not really a fair game, considering where he is hiding."

"So you know where he is?" Lily asked as the Fat Lady swung back over the portrait hole.

"Yeah, its this place we discovered back in second year."

"And where is it?"

"It's not very... Down!" James pulled Lily to the floor as a jet of sapphire blue light shot over their heads.

"Protago!" cried Lily whipping out her wand as more spells flew towards them, they rebounded off the shield charm and hit the wall opposite them. Lily glanced at James, his face was grim as he carefully stepped around the corner. The corridor was empty, however James not willing to take any chances whispered.

"Hormenum Rovelio. No ones here" he said after nothing happened, "Come on" he turned around.

"Wait your not going to show me where Black is hiding?"

"No, we are going back to the common room, then Remus and I will get Sirius."

"So why can't you take me?"

"Because we probably just got attacked Lily, and unless it escaped your notice there was no one around, which makes me nervous and believe that someone was using dark magic to conceal themselves, okay?"

Lily stared at him, he was agitated and his shoulders were tense.

"I'm sorry" she whispered. "Don't go looking for Black, he'll come when he's got bored of hiding and lets face it, its much more peaceful when he not around."

James laughed, "That's true, but word of warning, when he does finally turn up, he is going to be lived."

Lily shrugged. "Well we're just going to have to live with it aren't we."

James laughed again, and laying his arm around her shoulders, they made their way back to the common room.

It was nearly nine o'clock by the time Sirius turned up. He stormed into the common room and walked straight up to Lily.

"How dare you Lily-Petal! You stopped looking for me! How dare you! I could have been kidnapped by a Giant, or a Hippogriff, or...or...or a Troll and you sit here in front of the fire, eating sweets when I'm MISSING! And you two aren't much better" Sirius rounded on his two best friends. "my supposed best friends don't care or wonder were I am." he pouted. "I feel unloved."

Marigold laughed, and Sirius turned to glare at her, then quickly turned back to the other three as they also started laughing.

"Lily looked for you for over two hours." Remus managed to choke out, tears rolling down his face. "When she came back here, Prongs offered to show her where you were hiding."

"WHAT! Prongs how could you! Betrayal! Betrayal!"

"Oh for gods sake Black keep it down." Mary shouted from across the room where she was playing a game of chess with a sixth year. "We don't all want to know about James and Remus' so called betrayal."

If looks could kill, Mary would have been dead with the glare that Sirius was sending her, luckily, they couldn't.

"To be honest mate, you did deserve it. I mean it's not very fair to hide in a room that nobody knows about." James pointed out. Sirius didn't answer, he turned his back on his friends and marched up the boys staircase.

"Well that was eventful." Remus said as he returned to the book he was reading. Lily turned back to the game of Exploding Snap she had been playing with James, she frowned.

"Potter, stop trying to cheat and put those cards back."

James groaned, "It's not fair Evans, your winning."

Lily laughed, "Come on we better get going other wise they'll explode."

The rest of the evening passed quietly, other than the odd explosion or two coming from Lily and James. Sirius didn't appear until eleven, where he stated that he was going to bed and if James and Remus didn't want to sleep in the common room, they had better come up stairs now. By midnight all of the Gryffindors were in bed, and most of them asleep. Inside the walls of Hogwarts the castle lay in silence, outside the wind rustled the trees of the Forbidden Forest and snowflakes started to fall. To anyone watching it would have looked like a perfect night, and if they had been watching carefully they would have seen a figure appear at the edge of the forest. The figure made its way through the gathering snow, and up to the castle doors. They swung silently open on the well oiled hinges, and the shadow slipped inside. None of the painting stirred as the shadow slid along the dark corridors, halting at a picture of a fat woman dressed in pink, it bent down depositing a package on the floor, before turning and going back the way it came, disappearing down a flight of stone steps towards the dungeons. Who was that mysterious figure? And what could they possibly have wanted so late on the eve of Christmas. The clocks ticked steadily onwards, plodding resolutely towards one o'clock and Christmas. Finally all the occupants of Hogwarts Castle slept, dreaming happy dreams about Christmas and the presents that were waiting for them under the tree.


	9. Christmas Crackers

AN. hi, sorry it took so long to update. But this is the longest chapter that we have written. So have fun and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. :)

"JAMES! PRONG! OH MERLINS BEARD JAMI! GET UP!" Sirius stood at the foot of James' bed, yelling, James oblivious to the fact his friend had been shouting at him for the past half hour, rolled over in his sleep. Sirius opened his mouth ready to shout again.

"BLACK!" the unmistakeable voice of Lily Evans came up the stairs getting gradually closer till the door burst open. "I'm warning you now Black if don't shut the hell up, you are going to wish you had never been born."

"LILY-PETAL" Sirius cried joyfully and seemingly unaware of the threat she had just given him, pulled Lily in to a hug. "Merry Christmas! When do I get my present?"

Lily glared at him. "You will get it at a reasonable time in the morning."

"But this is a reasonable time and your awake."

"Its five o'clock, Black and I am only awake because of your bloody shouting. Now go back to bed."

Lily turned and was about to go out when she changed her mind and walked over to Peter's empty bed. Sirius watched as she climbed into it, staying there for only a second before getting out again.

"What's wrong?"

"Its cold and smells horrible." Lily looked around, she couldn't be bothered to go all the way back to her own dorm but she didn't want to sleep in Peters bed either, _dam Black and his stupid brain_ Lily thought. She now had three choices, one: Remus' bed, two: James' bed or three: Blacks bed. She immediately ruled out Sirius and Remus, maybe she could go in James', but then Sirius would take the mickey out of her, of course there was all ways the floor. _ Oh screw it, I don't care what Sirius says, _she thought. Sirius eyes widened as Lily walked over to James' bed, shoved him over and clambered under the sheets. She couldn't be bothered to go all the way back to her room, it was five in the morning after all.

Sirius grinned to himself_ Prongs in going to be livid when he finds out that Evans was in his bed and he sleep though it._

"Black" Lily interrupted his thoughts. "I don't want to be disturbed until at least eight, okay." with that Lily snuggled down into the warmth, and went to sleep.

* * *

"LILY! LILY!"

"WHAT!" Lily sat up, just as the door opened and Marigold appeared. She stared at Lily sitting in James' bed, with James still peacefully asleep beside her. "What?" Lily repeated.

"It's Christmas!" the blond girl cried happily.

"Really." Lily's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I actually hadn't noticed."

"Come on" Marigold grabbed Lily's hand. "I want to open my presents."

Lily looked round the dorm; all the boys were asleep, including to her surprise Sirius.

"What time is it?"

"Six"

"SIX!" Lily stared at her friend. "You have got to be kidding me, first Black and now you."

"Me? What have I done?"

Lily didn't answer as Sirius jumped out of bed. "Yay, Goldie, woke Lily-Petal up. Now can I open my presents?" Lily groaned, flopping back onto the pillows.

"Sure go ahead, but leave me alo..." she didn't get to finish her sentence, as she found herself hanging upside down in the air. James and Remus were in the same position as her, except that they were still asleep, which Marigold promptly pointed out.

"Not for much longer" Sirius grinned. "Agua Mente"

Water shot out of his wand soaking the the two boys and Lily. Lily gasped; the water was freezing. However the cold 'shower' seemed to haver done the trick as both James and Remus were awake. After a lot of complaining the group made their way down to the common room where they found Mary sitting in one of the sofas.

"Finally, I was beginning to wonder if you were coming at all. Hey Lily how come you were already up there?"

"Sirius bloody Black."

"Hey what did I do?" Sirius asked looking offended.

"What did you do? You started shouting at James at four thirty in the morning, waking up everyone in the whole of Gryffindor Tower apart from the actual target. I come to stop you at five, and can't be bothered to go back to my dorm, so stay there. Good enough?"

"Where did you sleep?" Remus asked, "In Peter's bed?"

"No, it was cold and smelt funny."

"So you slept on the floor?"

"No"

Her friends watched Lily as she blushed slightly.

"So where did you sleep?"

"Um in a bed."

"Who's?" Mary leaned forwards eager to find out.

Lily stayed silent, unable to keep it to herself Marigold spoke.

"I know who's bed she slept in and so does Sirius." the group looked at her expectantly.

"Well come on then tell us."

Marigold opened her mouth, but Lily got there before her.

"Mari, look, there's a huge pile of presents under the tree, I bet most of them are for you."

"Really!" Marigold's eyes lit up and she hurried over to the tree, Sirius right behind her.

"Goldie, that's mine." Sirius snatched a parcel from Marigold's hands.

"No, Black it's for me" Marigold took it back.

"But its got my name on it."

"No it has my name"

Lily shook her head. "I never knew that our friends were such children." she looked at James, who was shaking with laughter. Suddenly he turned towards her.

"Lily, who's bed did you sleep in? It wasn't Sirius' was it?"

Lily snorted, "Are you joking, after waking me up at half four?" She was silent for a moment then whispered softly. "It was yours, James"

James stared at Lily stunned; Lily had slept in _his_ bed, and he hadn't noticed? _Potter you idiot. The girl of your dreams slept in your bed last night with you still in it and you didn't wake up. You prick. _Lily sighed, bringing James out of thought.

"I suppose we better see who that gift is for, before our friends kill each other."

James looked over to the tree, to see Sirius and Marigold on top of one another fighting, rolling all over the floor. Remus and Mary were standing at a safe distance, watching them.

"Right" Lily marched over. She picked up the parcel looking at the name. "You idiots, this isn't for any of you." Sirius and Marigold stopped fighting.

"What do you mean?"

"The present is not for either of you. It's for Remus."

"Really" they jumped up to look at the tag, Marigold turned to Sirius.

"Black you idiot you just ruined my hair all because of a present that you thought was for you."

"Well, you've ripped my pyjamas all because you thought that present was for you."

They stood there glaring at one another and then suddenly burst out laughing. Once Marigold and Sirius had calmed down, the seventh years sat down around the tree.

"Right so who wants to open their presents first?" Remus asked, which was a mistake, as both Marigold and Sirius' hands shot up.

"I think Mary should go first" James said. "seeing as she has to put up with us lot all day."

"And what about me?" Lily asked, "Don't I get a bit of sympathy?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because Evans, you and I are going to argue about something today and annoy the others like mad, but seeing as Goldie and Padfoot need to be punished and Remus is a boy, it is only fair that Mary opens her presents first, as payment."

Lily stared at James, _how did he work that out? That was completely..._

"Wait because Remus is a boy, he doesn't go first?"

"Well, don't you Muggles have some sort of saying, like, um girls second and men just in front?"

Lily laughed. "Ladies first and men just behind. Yes okay I see your logic in there." she turned to Mary. "Go on Mary, start opening."

Mary found her first present and started to open it.

"Oooh look its been snowing.!" the group looked up. Sirius was standing by the window, his face pressed up against the glass, like a four year old child outside a sweet shop.

"Wonderful, Black. Now shut up and stop drawing attention to yourself. I want to open my presents." Mary snapped.

"But..its snowing" Sirius repeated pathetically, staring wide eyed at his friends, who had promptly returned their attention to Mary. As soon as Mary had finished opening her presents Sirius jumped up from the window where he had been sulking.

"My turn!"

"No its not."

Sirius turned to stare at Marigold, "Why?"

"Because Black, you have been sitting over there sulking on Christmas day, which is not the right attitude all because we weren't enthused about the snow. So its my turn." With that Marigold grabbed her first package. Sirius had to wait, for Marigold and Remus to unwrap their gifts before Lily took pity on him.

"Go on Sirius," she sighed, "you can open your presents now"

"Really?" Sirius' eyes lit up, "Lily-Petal I love you!"

The black haired boy, leapt up, and grabbed his first present ripping open the paper, to find box full of jokes and tricks from Zonkos.

"Wow, amazing." Sirius looked like a three year old, who had been given his first electronic toy car, "who gave it to me?"

James rolled his eyes, "Read the label Pads, that what normal people do."

"Oh yeah," He glanced at the packaging "thanks Prongs, Moony." The boys grinned at each other, then Sirius' attention was grabbed by his other presents. His mood improved, with every gift he unwrapped, then his face fell.

"Umm, cool its a book." Sirius had unwrapped Lily's present.

Lily sighed, "Read the front cover Black, or are you so stupid you can't read books?"

Sirius glared at Lily, "Of course I can read, but what do I need a book for."

Lily sighed again, lent forwards and grabbed the book, "_The Book of Marvellous Magical Tricks by Alicia Springs_"

"Oh My God! Lily-Petal I love you!"

"You already claimed you loved her," Remus pointed out.

"Yes, but I now love her even more, I mean this book is amazing"

"You've only looked at the front cover"

"So, it's still an amazing book. We can do all sorts of amazing tricks now."

Marigold frowned, "But isn't that book band from school by Filch?"

"Yep" Lily was smiling, "Which means Black that you can only have it during the holidays so make good use of it, as as soon as school starts I will confiscate it."

"Why would you do this to me Lily-Petal; give me an amazing book, that will only be taken away from me at the begging of term."

"Oh come on Black I'm not that mean, no it only gets confiscated if I see it."

"Wait" James' eyes were wide "Did I just here that right? Lily Evans, Head Girl, just gave Sirius a book that is _banned _?"

"I think she did." Marigold was also staring at Lily, who just shrugged.

"She's repaying Sirius" Remus, as always knew the right reason.

The group nodded and there was silence for a few minutes, broken by James.

"Right Evans, why don't you open your presents?"

"Yeah, go on Lily," Marigold agreed "I want to see what you think of mine."

Lily smiled and reached for her first present. Ten minutes later Lily, surrounded by paper, thought she had opened all her gifts, and was about to tell James that he could start opening his when Sirius spoke.

"Hey Lily-Petal, there's another present here" Sirius' voice was muffled as he was crawling around under the tree. His face emerged from under the bristles with a small silver box in his hand, and gave it to Lily. Lily glanced round, _who could it be from? _ She thought I've_ had one from Mum and Dad. Marigold, Alice, Mary, even Remus and Sirius and everyone else, and Petunia certainly wouldn't..._Her eyes fell on James, who was examining the book she had given to Sirius. _It couldn't be, could it? Is the present really from James? Oh my god, if it is then I need to get his from the dorm!_ Lily frowned; there was no label on it.

"Sirius, how did you know this was for me? There's no name on it."

"Oh because I saw James wrapping-err I mean I saw um um... a name tag on the floor?"

Lily turned to James "This is from you?"

James nodded, his cheeks flushing slightly

With shaking hands Lily slowly undid the purple ribbon around the box and lifted the lid. She gasped. There nestled in the midst of purple tissue paper was a necklace. Carefully Lily lifted it out of the box and examined the charm that hung on the silver chain; it was a crescent moon.

"Wow" she whispered quietly, "It's beautiful James."

"So you like it?" James questioned.

"I love it!" she cried, jumping up and throwing her arms around his waist. James' surprise disappeared quickly and he tightened his grip on her. They stayed like that until Lily realised what she was doing and pulled away, blushing slightly.

"Here" said James unruffled. "Let me put it on for you."

Lily pulled her hair over her shoulder so that James could do up the clasp. She turned round and smiled at him.

"Ahem" James and Lily turned."Um sorry to break you guys up, but there are actually other people in this room other than yourselves." Sirius spoke from his precarious position half way up the Christmas tree.

"Um Pads what are you doing?" James asked, staring at his friends, who had returned his attentions to trying to climb the tree.

"Looking for fairies."

"Why?"

"Because I want to!" Sirius retorted, forgetting that he was on the tree and letting go to cross his arms, before promptly falling off. The seventh years stared at the shocked Sirius for a second, before bursting into laughter. Sirius glared at them, before getting to his feet and storming up the stairs towards his dorm.

"Oh dear," Marigold looked towards the staircase, "I hope he didn't hurt himself."

"He'll be okay" Remus said, still laughing, "He's just being Sirius, and we all know what he's like."

The group nodded, "Right come on then James, it's your turn to open presents." Mary gestured towards the tree, and the teens moved towards it.

"Lily?" Marigold questioned "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, but I need to get something from the dorm first." She turned towards the stairs. "You guys start all ready, I'll only be a minute." with that Lily rushed up to her room.

When she got there she threw open her trunk and grabbed the present she had got for James. She stood there for a second before heading back down to the common room, wondering how she would get the present under the tree. Running through all her options in her mind the only good one she found was the dissolution charm. Severely hoping that her friends weren't too alert she cast the spell. Two minutes later Lily was sitting on the floor next to the Christmas tree watching James open his presents. Her plan had worked and James' present was now safely under the tree waiting to be opened.

James lent forwards, his eyes scanning the floor under the tree, and his eyes alighted on a neatly wrapped red parcel with his name on it. He smiled, recognising the curly writing. James took the parcel and started to open it. Marigold was staring at it with a confused look on her face. Lily's eyes were locked on the present as the paper was peeled away, to reveal a photo frame. James stared at the moving picture inside it and smiled again. It was a picture that had been taken in their sixth year. Three of The Marauders were standing by the Black Lake, watching the fourth who was talking to a red-headed girl. Suddenly Lily pulled out her wand and with a swift flick, sent James flying into the Lake. When he saw that James laughed, and looked up at Lily.

"Where did you get it?"

"Alice took it." Lily shrugged, then sighed at James' confused face. "It was her birthday and I got her a camera, and she couldn't stop taking pictures."

James nodded, "It's great" he whispered running his hands around the frame.

Gently James lay the frame next to his pile of presents and reached for another one. Fifteen minutes later, the Gryffindors had finished opening all their presents and were waiting for Remus to get Sirius from the dorm, where he was still sulking, so that they could go down to breakfast.

"LILY-PETAL!" Lily jumped as the portrait hole open and Sirius appeared.

"What?" she asked exasperated.

"I found a present for you outside the door."

"Wonderful, Sirius can you put it by the tree and..." She stopped as she saw a flash of green. "Wait it was outside?"

Sirius nodded, "I almost killed myself when I tripped over it just now."

Lily took the present from Sirius' hands and saw that her own were shaking. Slowly she turned it over in her hand, before turning and throwing it into the fire. As soon as the parcel touched the flames it exploded and turned the fire purple. The seventh years stared at the fire place.

"Wow," Sirius cried, breaking the silence, "Do it again Lily-Petal! That was amazing!"

"Shut it Black!" Marigold and Mary glared at him, and Sirius opened his mouth on the verge of replying, when he saw Lily's face. The beautiful red head had tears in the corners of her eyes. James started to move, when her head snapped up and she brushed her hand roughly over her face.

"Come on, I'm hungry and now that Sirius has decided to turn up we can go eat" the group nodded and started to head for the door.

"Hey guys" they turned, Remus was standing at the foot of the boys staircase, "thanks for waiting or had you forgotten that I was actually looking for that insufferable idiot who is currently acting like a dog"

As if they were on a roundabout Lily, James and Mary turned towards the door, where Marigold was standing using all her strength to restrain Sirius, who was straining against her trying to get to the door, his tongue hanging out.

"Sirius come on we can't go yet."

"Aww Goldie, don't be a spoil sport, let me go!"

"No, first you have to tell us why you were outside with out us."

Sirius stopped trying to escape and turned to look at Marigold in surprise. "It was snowing,"

"Of course, it was snowing! How could we forget!" James rolled his eyes. "Come on Pads" he strode forwards clapping his friend on the shoulder, "we can have a snowball fight after we have eaten."

* * *

Finally the Gryffindor Seventh years got down to breakfast where they found other students eating, and after a delicious meal in their pyjamas, they went back to the common room to change. Soon they found themselves out side, almost knee deep in snow.

"See" Sirius cried, as he ran towards the Black Lake. "I told you it was snowing." He turned, "Snowball fight! Marauders vs Lily-Petal and friends!"

"Okay. Your on, prepare to go down Black!" Marigold yelled as she took out her wand and summoned up hundreds of snowball and sent them straight at Sirius' face. The boy had no chance to duck and got a face full of cold, wet snow.

"That's it Goldie! Your dead!" Sirius ran towards Marigold and suddenly flew back into the air landing in a pile of snow. The friends laughed, and Marigold high-fived Lily who had cast a shield charm.

"Right, come on then boys" Lily said flicking her wand at a pile of snow, "I think we're winning at the moment." She grinned at them as the pile of snow transformed into blocks of ice. The group stared wide eyed as a ice castle was erected in front of them.

"Wow" Sirius gasped, his eyes travelled over every inch of the immaculate walls, "Lily-Petal can I play in it?"

Lily shook her head, "Nope. Sirius if you want to play in the castle you can join our team or you can wait till your our prisoner."

His eyes widened and it was obvious that he was toying between his loyalties and his desires. Finally he turned towards his friends.

"All right, come on Prongs, Moony. We have to beat these girls so that I can play in the castle."

"Right behind you Pads" James and Remus followed Sirius over to a clean patch of snow, while the girls went into their castle.

"Okay" said Sirius, suddenly serious. "We have to try and build a castle or some kind of fort to defend our selves from the girls." there was silence. "any suggestions?" more silence. Then Remus spoke.

"Well I suppose this is going to be up to me, seeing as you guys wont know how to build a fort." the boys nodded and with a sigh Remus got to work. As Remus was working James glanced behind him over to the girls castle, and gaped; it now had catapults, which were loaded with heaps of snow.

"Uh Moony?"

"Yes"

"How long till our defences are finished?"

"Well it's ready no...SIRIUS!"

James turned towards his friends to see Sirius sitting in a large pile of snow, and Remus glaring down at him.

"What happened?"

"Our most wonderful friend here knocked down our fort, before I was able to..."

"Well it's not my fault!" Sirius cried indignantly, "If I was able to knock it over, then it would have been useless against the girls snowballs."

Remus rolled his eyes, "You didn't let me finish Padfoot. As I was say" he returned his attention back to James. "Sirius knocked it down before I had a chance to cast a protecting spell on it."

James sighed, they would just have to do with out any defences then. Bending down he scooped up a hand full of snow, rolling it in to a ball as he returned to his normal height.

"Well we might as well start. On three. One. Two. Three!"

Three snowballs flew at the palace, startling the girls, and the fight began.

* * *

Three hours later six very wet, very happy Gryffindors re-entered the castle and headed to the Great Hall. People stared at them as they passed; they were so wet they were leaving puddles on the floor. Noticing Lily quickly pulled out her wand, cleaned up the water and dried the whole group off, everyone that is apart from Sirius. The black haired boy had somehow managed to get into their ice castle (without being spotted) and had attempted to start a fire because he was cold. Of course Sirius being Sirius, had performed the wrong spell and had some how managed to melt the entire castle. After that it had turned to one on one with everyone throwing snow at who ever they wanted; most of them had gone in Sirius' direction.

"Lily! Lily!"

Lily ignored the voice, and turned to James starting up a conversation.

"So do you want a rematch after lunch?"

"Yeah, sur..."

"Lily!"

"What are we going to do tonight?"

"LILY!"

This time the shout was so loud that it was impossible not to ignore it. She turned to face her greasy haired ex best friend.

"What?"

Severus came to a stop in front of her panting slightly, "Did you get my present?"

James' head shot up, and he glanced towards Marigold, her eyes were full of anger and was being held back by Mary. Lily's eyes flashed and her face was twisted in anger.

"Yes"

"Did you like it?"

"No, but by the looks of it the fire really enjoyed it"

Severus' eyes widened, "You threw it into the fire?"

"Yes, because I have told you so many time that we are not friends and not to talk to me yet you insist on giving me a present. Why would you think that this year would be any different from last year? I mean is there actually a brain behind that thick greasy skull, because I think that you are lacking in some brain cells."

"But Lily..."

"No" Lily took a step towards Severus. "Listen to me now and listen carefully so that I never have to repeat this. Stay away from me, or you will regret it."

"But..." Severus repeated, trying desperately to get through to the red headed girl.

"Piss off Snivelus!"

Severus' face recoiled in shock at Lily's use of the Marauders nick name, and he took a step back, his eyes desperately searching Lily's face for any sign of regret or the love that she had once had for him. But his eyes were disappointed, as Lily turned away from him and walked as fast as she could towards her friends and the Marauders. Marigold was still glaring at Snape as Lily sat down next to her.

"I can't believe it, that box outside the common room was from Snivelus." Sirius' voice was full of hatred. "I can see why you threw it in the fire now Lily-Petal."

Lily didn't say anything, as she concentrated on filling her plate with food, James sighed and leaned towards her.

"Lily, come on its Christmas. We're meant to be happy not sad. And yes I know that Snivelus upset you, but just forget it."

Lily looked up into James' face and saw that it was sincere. "Okay James, but it just..." She stopped and shrugged. "First Petunia and now Sev, whats the betting someone else I hate will give me something."

"Errr Lily?"

"What"

"Out of all the people who you hate, is one of them Hodgeson?"

"Probably, why?"

"Because he's coming over to our table now."

Lily's head shot up, and saw Hodgeson was indeed approaching them, with a small wrapped parcel in his hands.

"Oh god." Lily buried her head in her arms, her mind spinning. _Okay so even if you manage to escape from here, he will still catch me up at some point. What can I do..._

Then it stuck her. Lily turned to James.

"James, I need to borrow you." And she took his face in her hands and kissed him full on the mouth.

_Whoa! _James thought. _Where did this come from? Ah well, I'm not complaining..._

There was a loud whistle from Sirius' direction, a laugh, and then a cough from Dennis. Lily ignored him, and carried on kissing James.

_I hope James doesn't mind...But then, he _is _James, so I guess he doesn't care...Probably having the time of life..._

Lily checked that Hodgeson had gone before breaking away from James. She then stood up and left with out looking at anyone, her face bright red. James stared after her, then turned to his friends.

"What was that all about?"


	10. Unearthed Feelings

AN/ here's the next chapter. sorry that its been so long. anyway, thank you for the reviews and for reading the story. enjoy. :)

Unearthed Feelings

Marigold and Mary found Lily in their dorm, making objects fly around the room. They stood on the threshold for a few minutes watching her. Lily's face was a mixture confusion, shock and anger. Taking a deep breath, Marigold entered the flying minefield. A high heeled shoe came in her direction and Marigold only just managed to avoid being impaled.

"Bloody Hell Lil, you could have killed me," Marigold yelped gesturing towards the offending shoe still floating in the air. Lily looked up, and forgetting to look out for flying objects, walked towards Marigold, only to be hit in the head by the same shoe that had attacked her friend.

"Ow" Lily rubbed her head, frowning.

"Umm Lily, do mind returning our stuff to the ground?" Mary questioned from where she was still standing by the door. Lily flicked her wand impatiently, restoring the room to its former state.

"We need to talk."

* * *

While the girls had been busy looking for Lily, the boys had made there way to The Room of Requirement. Once there James threw himself on to a bean bag, grabbing a glass of Pumpkin Juice, the other two boys did the same, before turning to watch James. There was silence for a time, while James ran everything through his mind. Finally he spoke.

"Why did she do that?"

Another silence.

"Well I'm not sure if this is relevant but she did give you a Christmas present Prongs. It's possible that she might like you."

"What!" James spluttered, spitting his pumpkin juice ever where.

"Gross Prongs"

"You think Lily likes me?"

Sirius shrugged, "I'm not the only one mate, Goldie thinks the same. In fact she was the one who told me."

"Goldie told you! I thought she was Lily's best friend?"

Sirius nodded, "She is, but Lily didn't tell her about this, she just noticed that Lily was acting strangely around you."

Silence.

"Your getting pretty close to Goldie aren't you Pads?"

"She's a great girl" Sirius shrugged. "But we're not talking about Goldie, we're talking about Lily-Petal."

For the first time since they entered the room Remus spoke.

"Wait we're forgetting something here. Lily might have only kissed you James so that she didn't have to talk to Dennis."

The boys were silent, thinking over what Remus had said.

"So suppose, just suppose she did kiss me to get away from Hodgeson, what do I say to her when I see her? I mean do I talk about the kiss or should I just leave it and pretend it never happened?"

"I think," said Remus fiddling with a tassel on his bean bag, "I think you shouldn't mention it unless she wants to talk. Knowing Lily she will be embarrassed enough with out having to talk about it."

The boys nodded, agreeing with Remus' common sense.

* * *

Back in the girls dorm, their discussion had only just started.

"Lily do you like James?" Marigold came straight out with it; there was no point talking about something completely irrelevant and never getting to the crux if the matter.

"What do you mean by like?" Lily questioned

"I mean Like Like Lily."

Lily turned away, "Maybe"

"Come on Lily if you don't tell us we will have to force it out of you." Mary crossed her arms.

"NO!"

"No!" Marigold stared at Lily, "so you don't like James?"

"No. I said no to the force, but the answer your looking for is...um...yes"

Marigold and Mary's beamed at Lily and Marigold's wand exploded with ribbons and confetti.

"Finally, so are you going to get together?"

Lily shook her head, "James doesn't know that I like him, and I'm not really planning on telling him any time soon."

"Why, you know that James likes you. You'd make a perfect couple."

Lily stared at Mary, "Because its James."

"And what's so bad about him?"

"Well nothing, but its just..."

"Just what?"

"Do think he likes me just because I keep saying no? What I mean is does he come after me just for the chase? Or does he really like me?"

"Well I think he genuinely likes you. Why would he still be chasing you if he didn't like you. Only an idiot would still try to ask someone out after he's been refused as much as James has."

"But that's what you think. We have no idea what James thinks of me!"

Marigold's eyes met Mary's across the room, Lily saw the look and knew that they were hiding something from her.

"What have you two planned?"

"What do you mean?" Mary asked innocently.

"You guys have done something that you haven't told me about, so spill it!"

Marigold sighed, "Okay well we know for a fact that James still likes you."

"How?" Lily challenged.

"Because Sirius told me what James thinks of you, and I read the letters that James sent Remus over the holidays. They all ask how you are and if Remus has seen you."

"So...he does like me?"

"Yes Lily! Can't you see that? Girl, he's been head over heels for you since first year and your asking if he likes you!" Marigold's eyes were wide, as she stared at her friend in shock.

"Well he hasn't asked me out since term started."

"WHAT!"

* * *

"Do you think she knows that I like her?" James asked suddenly, breaking the silence that the Marauders had been sitting in since Remus' suggestion.

"Why would you say that Prongs?" Remus asked wearily.

"Well haven't you noticed that I haven't asked her out all term?"

"Really?" Sirius said amazed, "is that why the two of you are still talking?"

James nodded, "I thought that if I backed off a bit this year, she'll realise what a great guy I am." He sighed, "obviously she hasn't"

"Honestly James," Remus stood up. "You worry so much sometimes I think you should be a girl. If Lily has feelings for you, she will realise it. But I must say, if you want to show people that you still like her and if you want _her _to know that, you should have asked her out." He headed towards the door. "Now if you two don't mind I've spent more than enough time in here, and I don't intend to waste the rest of my Christmas day doing nothing. I'm going to the common room to find the girls and maybe have another snowball fight."

"Your going to the common room?" squeaked James. Remus nodded. "But...but Lily will be there."

"Yes I know" Remus rolled his eyes. "And I'm going to see if they want a game of chess or exploding snap."

With that Remus left his two friends, and headed to wards the common room. Sirius and James looked at each other, and quickly jumped up and followed Remus.

* * *

"Lily I can't believe you didn't tell us about this!" Marigold's second shout was almost as loud as the first.

"Mari, I don't have to tell you everything." Lily said irritably. "and to be honest James Potter not asking me out is hardly anything to start a conversation on."

There was silence between the girls, then suddenly Marigold jumped up, and headed out of the room, with a troubled look on her face. She returned a few minutes later with a smile.

"Okay Lily, James does still like you and before you ask how I know that, I went to see if the boys were in the common room and they were, so I asked Sirius what James thought of you."

"And?" Mary asked.

"And it turns out that the boys have been having their own little chat, where James was worrying about how to act around you because of your kiss. In fact Remus said that he was acting like a girl."

Lily's face shone with happiness, "So he does still like me!" Then it fell again. "What should I say to him about what happened in the Great Hall?"

"Oh for the love of Merlin Lily, don't speak about it. Just go down there like nothings happened and you'll be fine. Now come on, I want another snowball fight before it gets dark."

Marigold and Mary moved towards the door, Lily however stayed where she was, noticing her friends turned around.

"Come on Lily, you can't stay up here forever, just because you don't want to see James."

"But I do want to see him, I just don't know what to say"

Marigold groaned "Lil, I thought we dealt with this."

"In your mind we have but not in mine."

With a sigh Marigold magicked up a sofa and flopped on to it. Mary joined her a moment later.

"Okay Lily, spill your fears."

"Right, well um, I like James and I do want to go out with him"

"Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I promised Sev...er someone that I would never go out with him, and I can't just break that. It's not me and you know that."

"Lily please don't tell me that your not going to go out with James because you promised that greasy haired snake you wouldn't."

There was silence, but the look on Lily's face told the girls it was true.

"Sweet Merlin Lily, he called you a Mudblood and your insisting that you keep a promise you gave him!"

Lily nodded, "I know I'm not friends with him any more, but Mari, I cannot ignore a promise, even if it was to him."

"Your being stupid" Mary pointed out, and the girls stared at her, "seriously Lily, just forget about him, he doesn't matter. You and James would be a great couple and the longer you wait the more hurt you will be if he goes to someone else."

"He's going out with someone else?"

"No Lily, he's not. But he might turn his sights on someone else seeing as your not showing your true feelings." Mary looked into her friends eyes,_ why was it so hard for Lily to see that James likes her? _

Lily pulled her knees up to her chest and clasped her hands around them, slowly swaying back and forth, thinking. Finally she said.

"How do I tell James about my feelings?"

"Don't tell him, just show him." Marigold said. "Show him that you like him."

"How?"

"Sit next to him at meals and in class, laugh at his jokes, cheer him on in Quiddich and for goodness sake talk to him. If you do all that Lil, it won't be long till the two of you are together."

Lily looked doubtful, "Well okay if you think that will work. But what about Severus?"

"FORGET HIM!"

Lily winced at the volume of her friends shouts, "All right, all right. I'll forget him and the promise I made, but if I suddenly end up in the Hospital Wing, because I've been hexed by him, I'm blaming the two of you."

"Okay. Now lets go." Marigold cried happily, jumping up. As she did the sofa disappeared, and Mary landed heavily on the floor.

"Ow, Marigold your as bad as Sirius sometimes."

Marigold grinned, "I know" and disappeared out the door.

Grumbling Mary and Lily followed her. In the common room they found the boys in the middle of a violent game of Exploding Snap. Sirius was lounging on a sofa, changing random objects around the room in to frogs and other small animals. In his lap was a small bundle of fur, as the girls got closer they could see that it was a baby lion cub, fast asleep.

"Awww Sirius, he's so sweet." Marigold ran over and began to stroke the cub.

"I know. I think he makes a better lion cub than the first year he was before hand." Sirius grinned.

"What!" Marigold pulled her hand away from the creature and Lily glared at him.

"Sirius, change the poor boy back, you should know better than to turn unsuspecting students into animals."

"But Lily-Petal, he was annoying me."

"I don't care Sirius, I thought you had learnt you lesson after what happened last time."

Sirius pouted, but the look on Lily's face made him put the animal on the floor. With a wave of his wand the lion vanished and a small first year was in his place. The boy stayed where he was on the floor and Lily looked at Sirius.

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing Lily-Petal, he's just asleep."

"Asleep? Did you put him to sleep?"

Sirius shook his head, "No, he was asleep before I changed him."

Lily stared at him, lost for words. In the end it was Mary who spoke.

"So if he was asleep how could he have been annoying you?"

"Because it's Christmas Donny and nobody should sleep on Christmas Day!"

The girls rolled their eyes, and James and Remus laughed.

"Who wants a rematch?" Remus asked.

"We're up for one" Marigold grinned, "but this time I think that Lily, James and Remus should be together and Sirius should be with us." She pointed at herself and Mary. Lily glared at Marigold, who smiled back sweetly. The group trudged outside where they spent the next five hours in a ferocious snowball fight; in which Sirius somehow managed to fall into the Black Lake after he had made it crack, Mary got knocked out by Sirius and Remus, whilst trying to rescue Sirius, also fell into the lake. They returned to the common room after Mary had regained consciousness and fell into the armchairs by the fire.

"Well that was fun" Sirius said looking round the room. The group stared at him, "What? I had fun and I'm guessing that you guys did as well. If you didn't have fun then I'm not friends with any of you any more."

"Bit excessive isn't it Pads" James asked yawning. The group sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Suddenly Sirius got up and made his way to the portrait hole, and with out a word slipped out. Ten minutes later he was back with six bottles of Butterbeer. Lily eyed them suspiciously.

"Is that actually Butterbeer?"

Sirius nodded, "The House Elves in the Kitchens gave them to me and they would never dare to bring alcohol into the school. Dumbledore forbade them and nothing we say can change that."

The bottles were handed around. Lily put the bottle to her lips and drank, _there's no reason for us not to drink, I mean it is Christmas and not really school time _she thought and leaned back against the sofa. The seventh years stayed up quite late, talking about their gifts, their families and anything else that crossed their minds. It was almost midnight when the first of their group got up and headed for the dorms. Remus was the first to go, followed a few minutes later by Mary. Sirius, James, Lily and Marigold stayed up, and at one in the morning found the four of them creeping through the halls to the Kitchens, for more Butterbeer. On the way Lily got a fit of giggles after Sirius had fallen down the staircase. She was still laughing when they got back to the common room.

"Seriously Lily, I don't think you should drink any more." said James as Lily reached for her sixth bottle. Lily giggled again.

"James" she said in a dreamy voice, "Jaaammezzz, can we play a game?"

James shook his head, "No Lils we can't" he glanced towards Marigold. "I think she's had to much to drink."

Marigold stared at Lily, then shook her head, "No shee s...seem...sssemms fine" Her words slurring. "Can can I have another pleasssse?" She swayed slightly as she held her hand out.

"Jami! Jami look what I'm doing." James turned to see Sirius standing on the edge of a table, knees bent ready to jump off. Lily squealed and ran over to join Sirius. Marigold just watched them out of half closed eyes. Sirius leaped off the table and landed safely on the floor, then he ran over to Marigold and pulled her in to a hug.

"Goldie, will you marry me?"

Marigold giggled, "Get down on yyouur kneesss"

"Weee!" James spun round just in time to see Lily jump from the top of a bookcase, she landed with a bump, slightly unsteady. James sighed, sooner or later the three of them were going to hurt themselves.

"Come on Pads, Goldie, Lils time for bed." James grabbed Sirius' arm as he ran passed and dragged him up to his dorm where he locked the door behind him. _I'll sort him out once I've got the girls to their room. _Of course this was easier said than done; the girls staircase turned into a slide as soon as a boy set foot on it. By the time he got back to the common room the girls were pretending that they were flying. Flying! Quickly James got his broomstick and pulled the Lily on to it. Not wanting Marigold to stay alone in the common room he waved his wand and the girl levitated into the air. When James finally got into bed it was almost three in the morning, Remus and Sirius were already asleep. James' mind wondered back over the day and he found himself thinking about the kiss with Lily. _I will get her_ he thought fiercely_ one day Lily will realise that she loves me and she will be mine._ With those thoughts in his head James fell in to a deep sleep, dreaming of the pretty red headed girl, who he loved and hopefully would one day love him.


	11. The Day After

heyyyy, heres the next chapter, hope you enjoy it. there's a bit of a cliff hanger at the end, which will be solved in the next chapter, but i wont say any more, other wise, i might spoil it. :) xx

The Day After

The next day, James was the first up out of all the seventh years. He sat in the common room and waited, after a time Remus emerged, dragging Sirius behind him. The black haired boy looked awful, and he glared at James.

"Why do I have to get up Prongs?"

"Because Pads its almost midday, and you definitely do not deserve to sleep in, considering you spiked all the drinks."

"What?" Sirius looked at James confused. "I put Fire Whiskey in the Butterbeer?"

James nodded, "And then you forgot about it, got blind drunk and proposed to Goldie."

"Oh okay well...WHAT! I _proposed _to Goldie." James nodded, and Sirius' eyes widened, "What did she say?"

"She giggled and told you to get down on your knees."

"Then what?"

"Truth be told Pads I don't know, my attention was taken by Lily jumping of the bookcase."

"_Lily_ jumped of the bookcase?" Remus asked, surprised, "Wait how much did she drink last night? I left after she had had two bottles, did you get more after?"

"Err...yes. Lily um had about six I think."

"Wow, Lily's going to have an awful hangover. How much did Goldie have?" Remus questioned.

"About as much as Lily."

"And Mary?"

"She went up a few minutes after you."

"So she drank the same amount as me?"

James nodded, "In fact they should be down soon shouldn't they?"

Sirius groaned, and stuffed a pillow over his head and lay down on the sofa. "I don't care were they are, I just need something to stop this bloody awful headache."

James smirked, "Well that's your own fault Pads. No I wont shout at you, because your going to have enough explaining to do when Lily gets down here."

"Good luck with that." the voice came from behind them and the boys spun round to see Marigold standing on the girls staircase. Her hair was still tied up and there were dark rings under her eyes.

She yawned, "Lily's still asleep." she glanced round. "Mary not here?"

"No, isn't she in your dorm?"

Marigold shook her head, then stopped "Ow that hurts. Hey Black budge over!"

Marigold threw herself on top of Sirius, grabbed his pillow from his head and put it over her own, resting her head on his. Remus raised his eyebrows as Sirius remained silent. James shrugged and went up to his dorm to grab his broom. Remus frowned when James returned.

"Are you going flying?"

James shook his head, "No, I'm going to see whether the lovely Miss Evans can be stirred from the dead."

Remus laughed, "Don't let Lily hear you say that, she'll skin you alive!"

"Why? I'm making sure she's still alive after the amount of alcohol she took in. She'll be happy that someone cares about her, even if its me."

* * *

Swinging onto his broom, James kicked off from the ground and soared up the stairs and along the small corridor to the room at the end. The door had pink and purple flowers painted on it in a circle, and the names of the four occupants were painted in the middle. James smiled when he saw it;it was obvious who was behind it. Lily probably hated it, but there was no reining Marigold in once she had got an idea in her head. James pushed the door open and was greeted by a spanking clean square room with four beds in each corner. Three of the beds were empty, the fourth bed stood by the window and fast asleep in the bed was Lily, her red hair splayed around her face, in a shining red halo. James smiled when he saw her and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Lily. Lily" he shook her gently. "Hey Lily-Petal, wake up."

The girl started to stir and James shook her again.

"Lils come on wake up."

This time her eyes opened.

"James?" James nodded. "James what are you doing in my room?"

She sat up fast, clutched her head and flopped back on her pillows.

"I think I got kicked in the head by a Troll last night."

James chuckled, "Yeah you could say that."

Lily turned her head to him, "What time is it?"

"About one"

"ONE!" Lily stared at James in horror, "What time did I go to bed?"

James shrugged, "Not sure, I just brought you up here at about two thirty. So you could have been up for much longer."

"You took me up here? How the stairs turns into a slide if..."

"I flew up on my broomstick."

Lily glanced down at her clothes, and frowned, "How did I get into my pyjamas?" She turned to James "Did you put them on?"

There was a hit of anger and nervousness in her voice, James shook his head.

"I just got you in to your room, I had enough to deal with back in my dorm, with Sirius. Maybe Mary changed you, Goldie wouldn't have, she drank as much as you."

"How did I get drunk? I mean we were only drinking Butterbeer, weren't we?"

James sighed and shook his head, "Sirius spiked second batch of drinks with Fire Whiskey, and the other bottles also had alcohol in them."

Lily nodded "I would shout at him, but that would kill my head, even more than it's hurting now."

"Well if your willing to get up, I can get the perfect cure for hangovers from the House Elves."

"What's the price?"

"You have to come with me."

Lily shrugged, "That's not much, are you sure your not drunk?"

"No, for one I didn't drink any more after I tasted the Fire Whiskey."

"Wow, James Potter is being responsible? What has got into you?"

James shrugged, but didn't answer for a while. When he finally spoke it was barely above a whisper.

"Maybe I'm just trying to be who you want me to be."

Lily's heart started to race, when she heard the words, James wanted to change for her! He was willing to change for her, her Lily Evans. The red head smiled, and spoke just as quietly "You don't have to change for me James, just stay the way you are."

James lifted his head and met her sparklingly green eyes with his own hazel ones. They stayed there eyes locked for a long time until Lily broke the connection.

"I think its time I got up now."

James smirked "Really?"

Lily stuck out her tongue, "Shove off Potter, I need to change."

James grinned, "Why not just come down in your Pyjamas?"

"Because I don't want to, so James please leave the room and I will join you as soon as possible."

James' grin widened, but he got up and left.

Ten minutes later, freshly showered, Lily appeared in the common room. Although she had had a shower, she had forgotten to brush her hair and it splayed about her head in a messy frizz. Her face was taut and pale, and she swayed slightly as she walked. She smiled weakly at James.

"Can we go get your Hangover medicine please. I feel even worse now that I'm up."

"Sit down Lily-Petal, I already got it for you. I didn't think you'd be able to get down there."

"Thank you." Lily took the glass, James held out to her and sniffed it. She wrinkled her nose.

"Don't smell it, don't even think about what might be in there just drink it and you'll feel better."

Lily nodded, pinched her nose, drank and gaged.

"That tasted horrible. What on earth was in it?" she asked wiping her mouth.

"Raw egg, Vinegar, pepper, bit of water and a dash of lemon."

"Raw _egg_?"

James laughed at Lily's face, "Come on Lils it won't poison you, Remus, Sirius, Peter and I have had that remedy several times and we're not dead yet."

Lily leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. Then she opened them again and stared at Marigold and Sirius on the sofa. The two teens had changed position; Marigold was now lying on her side (as was Sirius) next to Sirius, who's arms were wrapped around her waist. The pillow now laying over both of their heads.

"Are they going out?"

Remus shook his head, "Not as far as we know, but Sirius did ask Marigold to marry him last night."

"Really, I didn't notice, what was I doing?"

James smiled and told her about what happened the night before. Lily's eyes widened when she heard what she had done.

"Merlin, thank goodness we weren't caught."

"That's all you can ever think about isn't it Lils? Your perfect reputation might have been ruined."

Lily was about to answer him with a few sharp words when she saw that there was a smile working it's way on to his lips. Realising that it was a joke, Lily smiled.

"Yeah James, there is no way that your going to ruin it, my record is flawless where as yours probably has more words on it than the letters in your friends name."

"Ouch, bit harsh Lils."

"But it is true James." Remus pointed out. "Even you can't deny it."

James shrugged, and changed the subject.

"I got a letter today from my parents. It turns out they didn't go to America."

"Oh why?"

"Amy didn't want to go."

"So why should that bother us?"

"Well seeing as they are not abroad, they want me home for New Year."

Remus sighed, "That's a shame. I was looking forward to a New Years day trick."

"Who says we can't play a trick on my parents?"

"What? We're invited as well?"

"Well of course. I wouldn't dream of leaving you behind. My parents can't wait to see you again, of course I can't say the same about Sirius but then again it _is _Sirius."

They laughed and Lily sighed.

"I hope you all have fun."

The boys stared at Lily in surprise.

"Um Lily, when Remus said 'we' he meant you, Marigold and Mary." Lily still seemed confused, so James explained again. "Okay, my mum and dad have not gone to America, because Amy doesn't want to go. So they have decided that they want me home for New Year and want me to bring some of my friends home as well, and you, Marigold and Mary are invited."

Lily nodded slowly, running everything through in her mind, then her face morphed into a smile.

"I'm going to get to meet Amy, and your parents?"

"Yes Lily you are, but if you and Amy gang up on me I will ban you from my house."

"Oh its not you I'm going to gang up on, its Sirius."

The group laughed again, and James stood up.

"I've got to go see Dumbledore, we need his permission to leave the school, as my parents want us there as soon as possible."

* * *

James returned from seeing Dumbledore with in the hour, with a grin on his face.

"Right we've got permission to go in two days and we have to be back two days before term starts. So start packing your clothes and be in the common room at eleven in two days."

"Where are we going in two days?" Sirius raised his head slightly from the sofa.

"James' house."

"Really" Sirius' face lit up for a second then fell, "My head hurts."

"There's always something wrong with you Pads. Why can't you just be happy that we're going home?"

"I am happy, its just that my head hurts."

"Oh stop complaining Sirius." Lily snapped, "Its your own fault that your like this."

Sirius glared at Lily, and his head flopped back onto the sofa. James sat down next to Lily and pulled out a book, and Remus deposited himself on the floor. They sat there in a comfortable silence and at some point Lily fell asleep her head on James' shoulder. James also found his eyes drooping, so he abandoned his book and rested his head on Lily's and soon he too was asleep. That's how Mary found them when she returned to the common room later in the day. Her eyes widened when she saw Lily, James, Marigold and Sirius.

Remus looked up when she came in and smiled, "Hey Mary. What have you been doing?"

"I spent the day with my cousin in Hufflepuff, and I might be with her tomorrow as well."

Remus nodded, "Just so you know, James' parents have invited us to his house for New Years, and we're leaving in two days."

"Wow, do James' parents know what they're getting themselves into having Lily _and_ James in the same house?"

"Well they're used to having four boisterous Marauders in there house so Lily and James shouldn't be a problem. So are you going to come?"

"Maybe, when do we come back?"

"Two days before school. So if there is any homework that we haven't done we can do it then."

Mary nodded, "I'll have to think about it."

She sat down next to Remus, pulling her knees up to her chest. "How long have they been like that?" she asked indicating towards Lily and James.

"Since Lily got up, which was about three hours ago, she came down and almost immediately fell asleep."

"Well I'm surprised she even got up."

"Why?"

"They woke me up last night and Lily could hardly walk straight, it took me almost an hour to get both of them into their pyjamas and into bed, and even then they didn't sleep."

"That's why she's sleeping now then."

Mary nodded, and sighed "I just hope that next time Lily gets drunk I'm not the one who has to sort her out."

Remus grinned, "I don't think she will, she didn't seem to like our remedy."

Mary smiled as well. The two seventh years sat there surrounded by their sleeping friends, happy and content. After another few hours the four sleeping teens started to stir. James was the first to wake and when he did he was content to sit and watch Lily sleep. Remus saw that he was awake but made no move to acknowledge him. When at last Lily, Marigold and Sirius woke, it was nearly five and everyone was hungry. The friends made their way down to dinner, and after the meal, (where Remus and Mary were the only ones that ate) they returned to the common room. Marigold had a sense of deja-vu as the group sat on the sofas by the fire. It was so much like the day before, however this time when Sirius decided that he wanted to get Butterbeer, Lily forbade him. Sirius sulked in a corner till Marigold went over to talk to him. The group ignored the two until a shout from Marigold made them look round.

"Fine! Be that way Sirius!"

"Goldie!" Marigold turned to look back at Sirius just in time to see the black haired boy in front of her. With out a seconds hesitation Sirius took Marigold's face in his hands, and kissed her.

"Go out with me Goldie?"


	12. The Potters House

AN/ Hey guys, glad your still reading. Hope you all had a great half term(if you had one) with lots of revision if you've got exams coming up, like me :). anyway, hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and here is the next. Have fun. :)

The Potters House

In the two days before the teens left Hogwarts, they hardly saw anything of Sirius and Marigold. The new couple spent most of their time in empty classrooms and alcoves. The wild black haired Marauder and the crazy blonde haired Quiddich player, were a perfect match, and nobody could work out why they hadn't got together sooner. Lily found that she spent more and more time with James and Remus, but she didn't mind. Since the beginning of term she had changed her view on several things, one of them being James. He, now was the focus for her, she would always look to see where he was and tried to do what Marigold had suggested. James noticed the change in her, and his hopes soured. One of the reasons that he had agreed to go home for New Years was because he got the chance to invite Lily. He wanted Lily to see what he was really like and the only way she could do that was is she came to his home.

Mary had decided to stay at Hogwarts and spend more time with her cousin, so two days later the five Gryffindors met in the common room, packed and ready to leave. From the common room they made their way to Dumbledore's office and used the floo network to get to the Leaky Cauldron. From there they apparated to a small village covered in a blanket of snow. Lily looked round, the village was in the middle of nowhere.

"So where do you live James?"

"Not far from here, we had to take a bit of a detour."

"Why" Sirius asked. "couldn't we go the normal way?

"Because Pads, the other village is having lots of building work done, and I don't know about you, but I _do not_ want to get stuck in a brick wall or a block of cement."

"I only asked Prongs." Sirius muttered under his breath.

"Right come, Lily grab on to me."

"Why?"

"We're going to apparate to outside my house and as Sirius and Remus know where it is and Sirius can take Marigold, you can go with me or Remus."

With a sigh Lily took James' arm and squeezed her eyes shut just in time, as James turned on the spot and with a _pop_ they disappeared. They landed in a huge pile of wet snow, and Lily glared at James as she freed herself.

"Couldn't you have avoided that?"

"No, Evans I couldn't, I can't see what the area where I land is like and you know that."

"How come your allowed to apparate anyway? Your too young."

James grinned, "Well Sirius and Marigold are of age and as we can side apparate, we just need to pretend that Remus and I was with Sirius and you were with Goldie. No one will ever know and its not like my parents will care."

Lily stared at him in amazement, "Your parents don't care if you use magic illegally?"

"Ah no they do care but I'm very careful not to do it while they're around."

"Oi Prongs, where the hell are you?"

Sirius' voice emanated from an even deeper snow drift and Marigold could be heard squealing about her hair and clothes getting wet. James sighed and waved his wand at the pile of snow covering his friend and Lily's. The snow flew into the air and landed a few feet away revealing Marigold and Sirius. The black haired boy glared at James.

"What the hell are these things doing here? They've never been here before."

James shrugged, "It was probably Amy, you know she's almost as cunning as us."

"Prongs how could you think that your sister is almost as good as us. That is an insult."

"Why because she's a girl?"

"No, because...because." He trailed off, his eyes focused somewhere over James' shoulder. Lily turned to see what he was looking at and gasped.

A tall iron gate, with an intricate rose and vine pattern, stood before them and further in the distance was a house. The gate was covered in snow but there were groves on the ground and snow piled up against the wall, showing that the gate could be opened. James did exactly that, and stepped through, his friends following, dragging their cases. Lily looked around the garden; it was big. In one corner there was pretty fountain with icicles hanging off of it like diamonds and a few rose arches leading, from what seemed to be the main path, round the back of the house in to a walled area. On the other side was a summer house and (what Lily could only guess were) several flowerbeds. Then her eyes turned to the house. It's walls were a pale yellow with black beams running up all the sides. The roof slanted down over the top floor, and windows dotted almost every inch of the four story building. The path lead right up to the front door, where in the summer ivy would grow, was now covered by a poster, that read 'Happy New Year'.

Remus shook his head, "Amy's a bit early with that isn't he Prongs?"

James nodded and shrugged, "What do you expect, I mean its Amy."

"I remember we said that about someone else, not to long ago." Lily smiled, her eyes flitting to Sirius. Sirius stared at Lily in confusion as everybody else laughed.

"What is everyone laughing at?"

"Never mind Pads" James chocked. "Come on lets go." He waved his wand at their cases, levitating them into the air and strode up the path, the rest of the group trailed behind him. Suddenly the front door opened and a small figure hurtled down the steps and threw herself into James' arms.

"James! Your home finally. I was wondering when you would turn up. I've missed you soo much. Do you have your broomstick with you? I want to use it, its much better than mine. And what..."

"Mini!" Sirius cried.

The girl in James' arms turned and her eyes lit up even more when she saw Sirius.

"Paddy! I missed you! Can I use your broomstick if James' doesn't let me use his? Please! I promise I'll be careful with it!" James put her down and she ran to Sirius.

Sirius shrugged, "Sure you can use it Mini, if I remembered to pack it."

The girl frowned and turned towards Remus and for the first time Lily got a good look of her. Amy had shoulder length brown hair, the same colour as James, and chestnut colour eyes. She looked almost identical to James, that Lily would actually have thought that she was James' sister if she didn't know better.

Amy bounded up to Remus and gave him a hug, "Remey. Your not looking very well, are you feeling all right?"

Remus nodded, "I'm fine Amy, don't worry about me."

The girl stared hard at him, then turned and spotted Marigold and Lily. She eyes them suspiciously, then smiled and walked up to them, "Your Lily Evans aren't you?" She asked looking at Lily.

She nodded, "Yes and you must be Amy, James' cousin."

Amy wrinkled her nose, "Sister, I'm James' sister."

Lily nodded, "Of course sorry. Well its nice to meet you Amy, James told me that you're the only one who can annoy Black and not be hexed into the next century."

Amy grinned, "You got that right. Paddy loves me too much to hurt me."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Thanks Mini. Now before we go in Mini I have to introduce you to my girlfriend, Marigold Lucas."

Amy stared at Marigold, then turned to Sirius, "Paddy you said that I was always your girlfriend! What happened? What did I do?"

James laughed, "All right Amy stop trying to make Sirius feel guilty, you know you will always be his favourite person in the whole wide world. Now I'm freezing so lets go inside."

Amy nodded and turned back towards the front door, "Mum and Dad are at work, they got called out for an emergency." She turned back suddenly and looked at Marigold. "Hi, you're welcome to have Paddy, if you can survive more than a week as his girlfriend."

Marigold nodded, "Thank you, Amy."

The group trudged inside to find themselves in a huge entrance hall, with a vaulted ceiling and a balcony running around the edge of the wall above them. There were stairs either side of the front door which connected the balcony to the entrance hall. Straight ahead of them were a set of double doors and two corridors one leading off to the left and the other to the right.

Amy immediately disappeared down the corridor to the right. James turned to look at his friends.

"Welcome to my house, um Pads, Moony you guys know where your sleeping, and you know your way around the house. So Lily, Marigold shall I show you around?"

Lily nodded eagerly, but before Marigold could answer Sirius jumped in.

"Actually Prongs, I think I'll show Goldie the house. No offence as I'm sure your better at it than me, but I'd rather like to do it."

James shrugged, "Sure, go ahead Pads."

Sirius grinned, grabbed Marigold's arm and dragged her off down a corridor to the left. Remus levitated the trunks and turned down the same corridor that Amy had gone down. James glanced at Lily, and smiled slightly. "So shall we start?

Lily nodded and James took Lily hand and lead her threw the double doors, into a big living room. Lily stared round the room, it had huge windows to let as much light in as possible, and the sofas were covered in light floaty material, flowers were dotted on every available window sill and surface. Lily looked at James and raised an eyebrow, "No Christmas tree?"

"Oh yeah, we have a tree but...um its in...er another room" James stuttered; he didn't want to seem to arrogant and a show off, just because he had more than one living room. _Wow _he thought as he hurriedly took Lily into the next room; the dining room and then out into the left corridor _last year I wouldn't have thought like that. I think being friends with Evans is changing me_. They passed several doors as they returned to the main hall and James gestured at them, "That's my Dads office, that's my Mums office, that's the storage room, and this is the entrance hall." With out stopping James lead Lily back to the fount door and up the staircase on the right.

Lily glanced down the right hand corridor as she followed James.

"James? Where does lead to?"

James turned to see what she meant and reddened slightly, "That's er were the um... ballroom is."

Lily's eyes widened, "You have a _ballroom_?"

James nodded, "Yeah, but we don't really use it. Mum uses it once or twice a year for special occasions, like celebrating when I got my letter for Hogwarts and Christmas and New Years."

"There's a party for New Years?"

James sighed, "Unfortunately. My mum loves parties and wants any excuse to have one." He turned back and continued to climb the stairs. "Last summer she had one just because Sirius and Amy hadn't found anything to fight about for three days." he paused "But that's only because Amy was away for two of them."

Lily laughed, "I like your mum already, she sounds really nice."

James shrugged, "Every mum is nice, I mean yours must be the same as mine in a way."

"I suppose so."

They came to the top of the stairs and found themselves on the balcony. From where she was Lily could now see that it didn't run all the way round the hall but stopped when it met the wall, where there were two doors. James walked along and opened the one facing the other part of the balcony.

"This is our other living room."

Lily looked round, it was bigger than the other one and this time it looked as if it was Christmas. A massive tree was sitting in the corner and tinsel, holly, ivy and mistletoe were draped generously around the surfaces. Here and there dotted around on the minimal free space were candles. Opposite the door they had entered the room by was a door, and further along the wall to Lily's left another.

"Do you see the soldiers on the wall?" James asked, Lily nodded. " when we want them to they can dance and sing. Also the holly and ivy are enchanted to sing."

"Wow," Lily breathed, she thought Christmas decorations at Hogwarts was amazing, but it was nothing compared to what the Potters had crammed into their living room. "Can you show me" she asked "how the plants sing?"

James nodded and pointed his hand at a bunch on a table,"Canta"

The moment the word left his mouth, the plants stood up and each of the little leaves became a face with eyes, mouths and noses.

"Master Potter!" one of the leaves cried, "it it good to see you. We didn't think you'd come home this year."

James smiled, "Yes well the plan changed."

The holly leaf nodded, "Well it was a good change. Now what shall we sing for you?"

James looked at Lily, "Lils do you want to choose a song?"

"Huh what?" Lily had been staring at the leaf in shock. In all the seven years she had been involved with the magic world she had never seen a talking leaf. "Er yeah, um how about Silent Night?"

The leaf nodded, "Ahh an excellent choice, I can see that your a muggleborn. None of the Potters actually know any Muggle songs, and this one is particularly peaceful."

He coughed and his eyes flicked towards the other leaves, "Okay everybody, the young lady wishes us to sing Silent Night. On three everybody! One. Two Three!"

Suddenly the room was full of the sweet sound of Lily's favourite Christmas song. The leaves sung beautifully, not sounding like leaves at all but like actual people. Lily found herself singing along with them.

"Silent night, holy night,

all is calm, all is bright,

round yon virgin mother and child;

holy infant so tender and mild:

sleep in heavenly peace,

sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night.

Shepherds quake at the sight,

glories stream form heaven afar,

heavenly hosts sing alleluia:

Christ, the Saviour is born,

Christ, the Saviour is born.

Silent night, holy night.

Son of God, love's pure light

radiant beams from thy holy face,

with the dawn of redeeming grace:

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth."

The song finished and Lily started clapping, although she had been singing the leaves were much better than she was.

"That was wonderful. Thank you."

"Our pleasure." the holly leaf bowed to her then to James, before shouting out the name of a new song. Still smiling Lily allowed James to lead her into the next room. James pulled Lily through the second dining room and back out on to the other side of the balcony. On the left hand side there was a door which they went through into a small hallway. Ahead of them was a staircase and on the right were two rooms.

"That's a bathroom and our family history room. My grandparents loved history and my dad can't bear to get rid of the room; it holds to many memories of them."

Lily nodded as they ascended the stairs to the third floor, "I wonder where Marigold and Sirius are. We haven't seen them yet."

"Yes, well, you know the broom cupboard I showed you?" Lily nodded, "I think Sirius and Goldie are making good use of it before my parents get home."

Lily laughed, "Well at least Mari's getting some sort of tour today. Where are we now?"

"Third floor Lils. Technically this is restricted territory."

"Why?"

"Well this floor is for guests and my parents. Me and Amy have the whole of the top floor and the attic."

"Wow" Lily whispered as James lead her passed three guest rooms and then his parents room. On the far right side of the house was a set of spiral stairs hidden behind another door.

"These start in the Kitchens below the house and go all the way up to our floor, with a door on each floor. And our own private secret stairs up to the attic" James said as he started climbing. "It's the fastest way for me and Amy to get to our rooms. And it's handy when we want to eavesdrop on my parents conversations."

Lily frowned slightly but didn't say anything as they had reached the top, and entered yet another corridor.

"So this is our floor, and that's our playroom with the spare room next door."

"Spare room?"

"Yes, Evans. A spare room, where our guests stay."

"But you have three rooms down stairs."

James groaned, "Yes Lily, but they are for the adult guests my parents have not for teenagers and small annoying ten year olds."

Lily nodded, "Oh yeah. I suppose that does make sense." she paused, her eyes sweeping the corridor, "So where am I sleeping?"

"You and Goldie are in the spare room next to mine."

"Are Remus and Sirius sleeping with you?"

James stared at Lily with mock shock on his face, "Oh Merlin is our relationship that obvious! Damn I knew Sirius shouldn't have left that letter out."

"Prongs what are you talking about?" Remus appeared from the third door along, with his eye brows raised questioningly.

"Lily found out about you, Pads and I, after all we did to keep it a secret."

Remus paled, "Lily y-yo you know?"

Lily by this time had caught on to what James meant and nodded not being able to speak through her laughter.

"But how? I mean...Do you still want to be friends with me?"

Lily stopped laughing, "Remus of course I want to be friends with you, it doesn't bother me that your having a three-sum with Potter and Black! The only person who should be worried is Marigold."

Remus relaxed, and his face had a huge look of relief on it. He turned to James, "Did you tell her Prongs?". But there was a hidden meaning in that question.

James shook his head catching the message, "No, she just asked if we were sleeping together."

Remus grinned, and turned back towards James' room, "Come on Lily, come and see where three of the Marauders had their three-sum."

Lily laughed and followed Remus. James' room was almost exactly what Lily had imagined a sixteen year old quidditch crazy, trick loving wizard's to be like. The room was decorated in red a gold for Gryffindor and there were posters of James' favourite players dotted round. There were three beds, two were obviously permanent objects to the room, while the third was a camp bed. At a closer look Lily realised that the room was almost split into two halves, although both sides were equally as messy. Remus' bed was in the middle of the two halves. Lily wondered over to one bed and sat down.

"Nice room." She glanced to her right and saw a pair of dirty socks. "Eww, er who's bed is this?"

James grinned, "That's Sirius' socks from the summer and that also happens to be his bed."

Lily immediately jumped up, crossed the room and resettled herself on James'; after checking for any dirty clothing. James and Remus laughed.

"So" said Remus, "Who's coming to the party this year?"

* * *

About an hour later Sirius and Marigold reappeared, both looking a bit dishevelled. The James, Lily and Remus all raised their eyes but held their mouths, continuing with the conversation that they were having about which house would win the Quidditch cup-all of them were going for Gryffindor. Sirius and Marigold joined in and it seemed like no time at all had passed when Amy burst in and told them that lunch was ready.

"Are Mum and Dad back yet?" James asked heaving himself off the floor.

Amy shook her head, "No." She watched James for a second. "Jame I-I'm scared. What if they don't come back?"

James' head shot up, "Oh Am, we've been though this before, Mum and Dad will _always_ come back. Now I'm hungry so lets eat."

"James who cooked if your parents aren't here." Marigold questioned.

"Oh the house elves."

"You have House elves?"

James nodded, "Yep. They get paid and each have a nice room to sleep in."

"How many do you have?"

"Two, but when we have special events we hire more in."

Lily stopped by the door that lead into the living room and Amy gave her a curious look, "Why do you want to go to the living room?"

"Well I thought we were eating in the dining room."

"Oh no, that's only when our parents are home, when it's just us children we eat in the kitchens."

"Oh okay" Lily turned away from the door, and continued down as Marigold peeked into the room.

"Aww cute, you have singing Holly and Ivy."

"You didn't see that on your tour?" Remus asked slyly. The couple reddened.

"Err, she got a tour of the ground floor." Sirius glanced at Marigold.

"Yes, and she now thoroughly knows the occupants of the broom cupboard."

They blushed harder, and Amy frowned.

"What's so special about the broom cupboard?"

"Err never mind Am, ummm that smells good." James jumped off the last few steps and swung round the corner, opened a section of the wood panel and disappeared. The rest of the group followed him and found that behind the secret door was a set of steps leading down into the celler. By the time they got to the bottom of the steps the wonderful aroma of cooked food hung heavy in the air. The door at the bottom swung open to the children to see James sitting on top of a marble counter talking animatedly to two House elves.

"Azzie! How are you?" Sirius cried, grabbing hold of one of the little elves up in a fierce hug.

The elf smiled, "Master Sirius, it is good to see you again. Did you have a good time at school?"

Sirius shrugged, "It was all right. What's for lunch?"

"Sausages and mash potato, with peas."

"Wonderful, is there seconds?"

"Sit down and eat your first helping Master Sirius before you ask for the second." The second House elf placed two plates onto the table standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey Quen!" Sirius let go of Azzie and started to head towards Quen, but he stepped back shaking his head.

"If you don't mind, I will pass on the greeting hug this time round Master Sirius."

Sirius's face fell slightly then brightened as he saw the plates of steaming hot food. James laughed and pushed Sirius towards the table.

"Lily, Goldie, allow me to introduce you to Azzie and Quen. Azzie, Quen this is Lily Evans and Marigold Lucas."

The House elves bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you Misses Evans and Lucas."

"Oh please call us Lily and Marigold." Marigold said smiling at the elves.

They nodded, "As you wish Miss Marigold. Now if you don't hurry up and sit down the food will be cold."

Following Quen's advice the remainder of the group sat down. After they had finished finally took Marigold on a tour of the house and Amy dragged Lily into her room, where Lily spent almost an hour playing with her. Amy's room was almost the exact opposite from James'. Like Lily when she had been younger it was pink and purple. On her dresser there was a picture of a witch and wizard smiling happily and waving with two little girls on their laps. There was also a picture of James, Sirius and herself. It was obvious that Amy adored them both.

"So, James told me that you can win against Sirius in anything." Lily asked

Amy nodded, smiling, "Paddy doesn't like it when I do, but he always lets me win."

"Oh, so do you play tricks on him?"

"No, nobody can play tricks on the Marauders. They always notice and you can never fool them. Why? What has Paddy done to you?"

"Nothing really but he does annoy me slightly."

"He annoys everyone, even my mum and dad, and Azzie and Quen." she shrugged. "It's just a part of his nature."

Lily watched the little girl for a few minutes, her brown hair flopping over her eyes and her face screwed up in concentration as she tried to work out how to fit two pieces of a small model broomstick together. Once she had done that Amy placed it on a thin metal pole, that was stuck to a wooden board painted green. After a moment Lily recognised it as a Quidditch pitch. Lily stayed with Amy and helped her to assemble all the small models, until James poked his head in and dragged Lily away for a tour of the gardens.

"You do know it's cold out side, don't you James?" Lily asked as they walked towards the spiral stairs.

James nodded, "Of course I do Lily but I only said that to get you away from Amy. I wanted to show you the attic and speak to you about something."

"Err okay." Lily said sounding unsure.

They entered the play room and James walked over to cupboard, after bending down and sliding part of the wooden wall to the side, he stepped back. Lily now saw that there was, like the way to the kitchens, an opening on the other side.

"Go on Lils, there are steps on the other side. I'll be right behind you."

Lily nodded and after a seconds hesitation, walked forwards. Just like James said on the other side of the opening Lily found a staircase. She started to climb, as she did she could here James' steps behind her and feel his presents. The staircase ended abruptly and Lily found herself looking at large open space, with sofas, armchairs, bookshelves, bean bags and a mini kitchen in case they ever got hungry.

"Right," said James appearing beside Lily, "lets go sit down."

"Why is this like this?" Lily asked. "I mean why do you have this stuff up here when it could be in the play room?"

James sighed, "It's not only for me and Amy. Yes the top floor is our area of the house but there is a reason why the entrance to here is hidden."

James stopped, and pushed a hand through his hair, "It's also to keep us safe."

"What?" Lily was confused.

"The doorway is hidden, and the stairs are only there because of an undetectable extension charm. If the house ever gets attacked then me and Amy are to come here. No matter what. So that we will be safe."

"But James, who" Lily faltered. "who would want to attack you?"

"The Death Eaters."


	13. Amy's Story and The Secret

AN/ So in case wondering what happened to Amy it all get cleared up in this chapter. It's quite short but enjoy it. :)

Amy's Story and The Secret

Lily stared at James, _Death Eaters! Voldermorts supporters were after James' family! _Finally she managed to whisper "Why?"

"Do you know why Amy is living with us, Lily? Do you?"

Lily shook her head, thoughts still whirling "No."

"She is here because her parents were killed. The Death Eaters killed them and her sister, when she was five."

"But...but that must have been the year we came to Hogwarts."

James nodded, "It had already started before then. Amy's dad, my fathers brother, was an Auror and had managed to capture a few of the Death Eaters. Some of the Death Eaters weren't to happy about it and vowed to track him down and kill him. They tried for a long time but my uncle was clever and the Death Eaters didn't actually know _who_ had imprisoned their fellow followers."

"So if they didn't know it was you uncle how did they find out?" Lily questioned.

James grimaced slightly, "Rumours. They had heard whispers and muttering about who had caught them and then one of them managed to get a job at the Ministry. After that my uncles luck ran out, they found out where he lived and worked out what time was the best to strike."

James stopped again, and stared at the wall ahead, his brown eyes on the verge of letting out tears. Lily got up from where she was sitting and went to him. She knelt before him and placed a hand on his knee. James' head snapped and his eyes darted to her face. Lily found herself lost in the depth of James' eyes. They radiated pain and fear. They stayed like that until Lily squeezed his knee gently, and moved from her position on the floor onto the sofa next to him. James coughed and then continued.

"They came early in the morning in January. We don't know exactly what happened, and the only person who does is Amy, but she doesn't speak to anyone about it. So we're guessing that my uncle was already up when they arrived, as the Auror office got a call, at about 7:30. My father was the one who answered the call, but when he got there he was too late. Amy was the only person in the house, and she was half dead."

"Did they torture her then or something?"

James nodded, "She spent months in St Mungo's and it took ages till she started to speak again. In those months her parents and sister still hadn't been found. It was only a few months before I started Hogwarts when their bodies were found. Up until then my father had believed that they were still alive, and being tortured for information. They were in a hollow a couple of miles from their house, tortured and hardly recognisable. All three had been killed by the same spell. No one knew that Amy had survived no one but the Aurors office and the people at St Mungo's. My dad wanted to give her as much protection as possible, so until she goes to school Amy only exists to my family and our close friends." James turned to Lily. "Lily you do understand what this means don't you? You cannot tell anyone about her! If you do she wont be safe at home any more."

"Why? Do you think the Death Eaters still want to kill her?"

James nodded, "My father thinks so. I don't know how its going to work once she goes to school, because everyone will know she lives with us."

"What do you do at these parties you throw, surly you can't have Amy walking about."

"No, we give her Polyjuice potion. We just have to remember which girl in the village we got it from."

Lily nodded slowly, "She's very happy now though, I wouldn't have thought that anything bad had happened to her if you hadn't told me."

"Yes, I don't know how she managed that. When I went off to school, she still wasn't talking and it stayed like that until after my first year. I mean she would speak to the House elves but not to me or my parents."

They were silent again and Lily looked round again, this time she saw how it was designed for protection and shivered.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"What?"

"You said you were taking me up here to speak to me about something."

"Oh yeah. Okay its um about Remus." he sighed, "Lily you know your really clever don't you?"

"Err, no I don't James, but thank you."

"Your welcome. Anyway you know in third year, we learnt about the dangerous animals that are-"

"James" Lily interrupted him. "I know about Remus. I know he's a Werewolf. I found out in second year, and in the third Snivelus kept on dropping hints, after you saved his life. You did save him from Remus didn't you?"

James nodded, "Yes, I had an inkling that you knew about it the day after the Hogsmead trip."

"Yeah well, most people aren't good at noticing things."

"And that's how you found out? Cause you notice things?"

Lily nodded, "Also one day I was just on my way back from having tea with Hagrid, when I saw Madam Pomfrey hurrying towards the Womping Willow with Remus. I was already suspicious, and as soon as I saw Madam Pomfrey and Remus I checked the sky and the charts from Astronomy and saw that it was a full moon." she shrugged. "Not that bigger deal."

"Not that bigger deal! Lily, Remus doesn't tell anybody. When the rest of the Marauders found out he thought we wouldn't want to be friends with him any more."

"So does he know that I know?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well you know after we had finished the tour, we were talking outside my room and we had this joke about me, Remus and Sirius sleeping together?" Lily nodded, "When Remus joined he thought that you were talking about him being a Werewolf."

"Hum I thought that much, he went so pale and seemed really worried. Does he know that your talking to me about it?"

"Yes, when I said that I thought you knew he said that I should tell you."

Lily nodded, "So what er what time do you think your parents will be home?"

"No idea. It depends on how serious the call was, but seeing as it was an emergency, I wouldn't expect them home for ages."

Lily nodded, then sighed, and leant back against the sofa. Her eyes drifted shut then suddenly snapped open again. "You have a bookcase!"

James laughed as Lily jumped up and hurried over to the shelves, "I was wondering how long it would take you to realise them."

"Oh shut it Potter." Lily stuck her tongue out at him.

"So are you going to read now or what?"

"Yes Potter I am going to read, and you can stay with me if you wish." She smiled at him sweetly.

Still laughing James grabbed a book as well and the two settled into a comfortable silence.


	14. Mr and Mrs Potter

Mr and Mrs Potter

The sun was just starting to set, when the gates of the Potter mansion swung open. Two people strode up the path. The front door opened spilling out warm, welcoming light out into the cold night air. The pair hurried up the steps and broke through the barrier of cold air into the warmth. The two House elves were waiting for them.

"Mr Potter sir, welcome back." Quen, stood by the open door and bowed.

Mr Potter smiled, "Thank you Quen. Have James, Sirius and their guest arrived?"

"Yes Sir they were here for lunch Sir."

"Do you know where they are?" Mrs Potter asked.

"Up on their floor, most probably Mrs Potter."

Mrs Potter nodded, "Well then, Adam we better go and say hello."

Mr Potter nodded and together the couple made their way towards the spiral staircase and the top floor.

"Jane" Mr Potter grabbed hold of his wife's hand, "Shall we sneak up on them?"

Jane eyes her husband. Even though he was an adult Adam still behaved like a child and it was easy to see where James got his mischievousness and cheekiness from. Jane knew that James would be just the same. In fact Adam hadn't really changed much since she had married him, only the death of his brother had made him lose a bit of his jolliness. His hair was the same colour as James' with several streaks of grey and had the same kind of messy floppiness as well. The two of them looked so alike that some people often thought they were brothers. Jane Potter had dark blond hair with small hints of brown and grey.

Finally she gave in, "Yes all right Adam," she sighed, "you can sneak up if you want."

Adam clapped his hands, "Yes!"

* * *

Amy was sitting in James' room with Remus, Sirius and Marigold, when they heard the floor boards creaking outside. Amy's face paled and she backed towards the corner furthest from the door. The other three got up and Sirius marched towards the door.

"Paddy be careful!" Amy squeaked.

Sirius paid no attention to Amy and drew out his wand, Remus followed his example and came up beside him.

"On three!" Sirius muttered. "One. !"

Remus wrenched the door open.

"Expeliarmus!" Sirius and Remus's voices melted with the shout of surprise from the person on the other side of the door. Someone laughed, and the boys lowered their wands. Mr Potter was standing there with his wife clutching onto the window ledge laughing.

"Oh Adam" she cried, "you may be an amazing Auror but Sirius and Remus could bet you any day. Your no match for two Marauders!"

"Mum! Dad!" Amy pushed past Sirius and Remus, and ran into Jane's arms.

Adam laughed, and pulled Sirius into a bear hug, "Ah hows my wonderful adopted son?"

"I'm great Papa Potter."

"Well that's good. Remus! How are you boy? Your looking well, how's er hows everything going?"

"I'm very well thank you Mr Potter, and everything's going good."

Adam nodded and Jane welcomed the boys. Then Sirius introduced Marigold, to them. Mr and Mrs Potter were delighted that Sirius had found a someone he trusted enough to have as a Girlfriend. Adam looked round the room, "Right. Where's James then?"

* * *

Lily opened her eyes and tried to sit up, only to find that she couldn't. She glanced down and saw a pair of hands were wrapped round her waist. She turned round as best she could, and saw James was lying behind her fast asleep, his glasses askew. She smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair out his face. James shifted slightly and his eyes started to flutter open.

"Hey," Lily whispered.

"Hey," James smiled up at her, "Did you have a nice sleep?"

Lily nodded, "Yes, what about you?"

"It was all right. What's the time?"

Lily glanced at her watch, "It's about eight."

"Eight! Wow, my parents should be here soon, if they're not already."

"So should we go down?"

"Yeah probably." However James made no move to get up.

"So are we going to go down?"

"Yeah, but not now I can't be bothered."

Lily crossed her arms, "James Potter!"

"Lily Evans!"

"Stop it James." Lily slapped him, and James laughed.

"Come on Lil, my parents wont die if they don't meet you as soon as they come home. Anyway they'll be busy with Sirius, Remus and Goldie, not to mention Amy will be clinging to them like she's a House elf in trouble."

"Don't be mean to your Sister!"

"Its not being mean Lil, its just telling the truth."

"Right." She tried to get up, "James! Take your arms away from around my waist."

James smiled, "Why?"

"Because I want to go down stairs."

"Aww come on Lily, can't we just stay up here for a little longer?"

"NO!"

James sighed and released his grip, Lily stood up, and glared down at him.

"Come on Potter." sighing again, James heaved himself off the sofa and they made their way down stairs. They emerged from the play room just as Adam asked where James was. James placed a finger on his lips and remained in the door.

"James is showing his girlfriend round the garden." Amy answered smiling. "Jami's got a girlfriend!"

"A girlfriend really?" Jane asked, "Well he certainly forgot to mention that in his letters." She looked at Sirius and Remus, both boys were frowning. "I suppose it is true boys? Does James have a girlfriend?"

Sirius shrugged, "Not as far as we know. There is someone who he really likes and, er, you will know who it is. But it looks like they're acting the same as they have been since, er, since" He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Remus came to his rescue, "James and Lily aren't going out although they both like each other, they're just friends at the moment."

"Lily? Wait Remus do you mean The Lily Evans? The girl James has been in love with since he has been at Hogwarts?"

Remus nodded, "Yep, the one and only."

"Humm okay well you say they went to the garden?" Amy nodded, Adam pushed a hand through his hair. "Well it's much too dark outside now they must have come back and not told you. Oh well I'm up for a game of finding our son, aren't you Jane?"

Mrs Potter nodded, "Jami!" She called starting towards the staircase, "Jami boy! Where are you?"

"Hey Mum." James stepped out from the doorway and Jane screamed.

"JAMES! Merlin how are you? I've missed you!" Mrs Potter enveloped her son in a massive hug, raining kisses on him.

"I've missed you to Mum." James wriggled out of Jane's grasp, only to be caught by his father. Lily stood quietly by the door, watching. Marigold slipped over to her.

"Lily," She hissed, "are you and James going out?"

Lily shook her head, "No. but why does Amy think we are?"

Marigold shrugged, "No idea, in fact I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Mum, Dad." James stepped away from his parents, "This is Lily Evans, she is the Head Girl."

Jane looked Lily up and down, then smiled, "Lily its good to meet you, I'm Jane Potter."

Lily smiled back, "Nice to meet you too Mrs Potter."

Jane tutted, "Its Jane. That goes for you, too." She turned to Marigold. "I will not have my sons friends calling me Mrs Potter, it reminds me too much of work." she shuddered.

Then Mr Potter stepped forwards, "Adam." He held out his hand, which Lily hurriedly took.

"Its, er, nice to meet you?"

Adam nodded, "So are you going out with my son?"

"Dad!" James cried at the same time that Lily shouted "No."

Jane started laughing, "There we go Adam, Lily's not got James, so there is no need to be hostile."

Adam grunted and turned towards the stairs, "Azzie!"

The house elf appeared with a _pop_! "Yes Mr Potter?"

"Is dinner ready?"

"Yes it is Mr Potter. It can be on the table when ever your ready."

Adam nodded, "Good thank you Azzie, have the table set for ten minutes time please."

The elf nodded and disappeared again. Adam turned towards the teens, "Right so dinner is in ten minutes, which gives me a nice time for a shower and you children to wash your hands and Sirius?"

"Yes Papa Potter?"

"Try not to sit in Amy's seat."

Sirius grinned at Adam, "It depends on what I feel like in ten minutes."

Adam nodded and then departed to the floor below. As soon as he had gone James turned to his mother.

"What up with Dad?"

Jane sighed, "No idea. Maybe it was the job we did today."

"What did you have to do?"

"It was to do with a family, and I think it reminded him of-" She glanced at Amy, "of you know what."

James nodded, "Ah well, Pads, Moony I don't think there has been a better need for the Marauders than this."

Both Sirius and Remus brightened up and the three boy rushed into James' room without a backwards glance, the door slamming shut behind them.

Jane sighed, "Well it looks like the boys are going to get us through the meal today. Now Amy go wash your hands and then come to the living room. Marigold, Lily would you like to join me there? The boys will be totally occupied and won't miss you."

The girls nodded and followed Jane.

* * *

Ten minutes later most of the occupants of the house were sitting in the family dining room. The only person missing was Adam. Jane glanced at her sons (adopted and biological) and their friend, and wondered what they could have come up with in the limited amount of time. Adam appeared and sat down, his face sullen. As soon as Adam had sat the house elves apparated into the room with plates of hot food. They waited until all the food was on the table before Jane told them that they could help themselves. There was absolute silence. After a while Adam looked up and a frown appeared on his face.

"Jane, why are you wearing nothing apart from you bra?"

Jane looked at her husband in surprise, "I don't know what you mean Adam. I assure you that I am wearing my clothes."

"No seriously Jane, you are not wearing your clothes."

Jane turned to her son, "James am I wearing my clothes?"

James nodded grinning, "Yep you are Mum, the same thing you've been wearing since you got in."

"See Adam, I think your just tired."

Adam shook his head in disbelief, and was about to return to his meal when he caught sight of Lily and Marigold, and his eyes widened.

"Er Sirius, why are you Girlfriend and her friend wearing bikinis?"

"Sorry Papa Potter? Marigold and Lily are wearing bikinis?" Sirius turned to look wide eyed at Marigold. "Oh they're not, shame I had just got my hoped up."

"Wait are you saying that they're wearing their clothes?"

Sirius nodded, "They are Papa Potter."

"I must be going mad." he muttered.

Lily leaned towards James and whispered, "Why does your dad think I'm wearing a bikini?"

"It's part of the trick, all of us look like we're wearing something else." he whispered back.

Lily nodded and giggled; Sirius was staring at Marigold like a lazy dog, who's favourite toy was just out of reach. Marigold had also noticed that and was teasing him.

"Oi Black." Lily glared at him, "Stop eyeing up my friend like she's your dinner."

There was a moment silence then James, Remus and Jane started laughing. Sirius looked at Lily with wide eyes.

"What am I doing that's so wrong Lily-Petal? Goldie is my Girlfriend so I can look at her in what ever way I like."

"Yes but not when we're eating!"

"Aww you spoil everything for me Lily-Petal." He pouted, then grinned, "Papa Potter, what do you think of James being dressed up as a broomstick?"

Adam turned his head to look at his son, "James, really what-" He stopped and then looked at everyone round the table. Jane was now wearing her silk night dress and it looked like Lily and Marigold were wearing really tight revealing dresses. Amy was dresses up like a dog, and Sirius, Remus and James looked like big sparkly presents. Then he started laughing, he laughed so hard that he fell onto the floor and had tears rolling down his face. The group stared at him and finally he clambered back up, "Oh that was good boys, very good indeed. Fancy me thinking that Jane was down here dressed for bed." He laughed again and Jane reddened slightly.

"Well done boys. You managed to get him back to normal. Adam say a proper hello to Lily now."

Adam turned to Lily, smiling, "Lily Evans its very nice to meet you, sorry about earlier, you look like one of the people we had to help and I had a huge flash back. So I apologise."

Lily nodded, "That's okay Mr Potter, I forgive you."

"It's Adam."

That evening, the Potter house was full of happiness and laughter. Adam, James, Remus and Sirius were the main entertainment. The four of them danced around the room, in the strangest way and then Jane insisted that Lily showed them a Muggle game. Her first thought was Sharrads, but she had to rule that out because none of them would know anything do to. In the end Lily settled for Musical Bumps, and with the singing Holly and Ivy doing the music and Azzie and Quen judging. It was passed midnight by the time they went up stairs, but much later before the Seventh years went to bed. When they finally did go they were all very happy and very tired.


	15. Snowball Fight

AN/ Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it :)

Snowball fight

The next morning James was up early. Instead of staying in his room, he pulled a t-shirt on and slipped out, leaving Sirius and Remus sleeping peacefully. He wandered slowly through the house, and ended up in the public living room by the French doors. A figure stood by the lake, watching the sunrise. James saw a flash of red and knew at once who the figure was. Forgetting to get a coat, James stepped outside and walked towards Lily. The girl was so preoccupied by the sun, she didn't even notice that James was there till he wrapped his arms around his waist. She jumped, and turned round.

"James!" she gasped.

James grinned at her, "Morning Lily-Petal. How did you sleep?"

Lily didn't answer, she just turned back round, "You know Potter if the Lake wasn't frozen you would be in there right now."

"Well then I am extremely lucky, but I'll remember never to invite you round before it snows."

Lily laughed, "I slept well thank you for asking. What about you? Your up really early."

"Yeah, that's only because I didn't sleep." Lily raised her eye brows questioningly. James shrugged, "I don't know why, maybe...maybe its cause I was thinking about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. You were so happy last night and so so. Oh I don't know I just couldn't stop thinking about you."

There was silence between them, and Lily found her mind wondering.

_He was thinking about me. Yes! He still like me, but what should I say to him? Should I say anything? No Lily, no don't say anything, keep quiet. But he _likes_ me. I should say something. Oh but I can't. Shut up Lily you like and its time for you to show him that so kiss him!_

Lily looked up at James, wondering what he would do if she did kiss him. In the end she decided against it. They stayed there until James started to shiver, when he did Lily suggested that they went inside. They went back up stairs, as quietly as possible, so as not to wake anyone. Once they were back on the top floor Lily went back to Marigold and James went to his room. A few hours later Azzie appeared in the girls room and Quen in the boys.

"Miss Lily! Miss Marigold! Breakfast is in twenty minutes, Mrs Potter wanted me to inform you."

"Thank you Azzie." Lily said looking up from her book. "Would it be possible for you to return in ten minutes as I think Marigold might need to be woken up again."

Azzie bowed, "As you wish Miss Lily. If you need Miss Lily the bathroom is next to Miss Amy's room."

"Thank you Azzie." With another bow Azzie disappeared.

Ten minutes later Marigold as Lily had suspected had still not got up, it was only when Lily threaten to order Azzie to pour water over her that she got up. After a lot of moaning and groaning Marigold got down stairs. Neither of the girls had bothered getting changed out of their pyjamas and they saw that the rest of the family was also that way. Most of them looked half asleep including Adam and Jane.

"Morning." Adam yawned as he sat down, his hair rumpled. "How did everyone sleep? Good? Well that's wonderful." He looked down at his breakfast and groaned.

"What's up Adam darling? Aren't you feeling well?" Jane asked concerned.

"No I'm fine."

"Good, because we need to get some thing sorted before the party tomorrow."

"On the other hand I think I am coming down with something, I might spend the day in bed."

"Oh no you don't Adam Potter. You are going to help me today and tomorrow. You can relax and be ill after the party."

Adam groaned, "Why can't the children help as well?"

"They can. James is going to go down to the village and get the hair for the polyjuice potion for Amy."

"Aw Mum do I have to?"

"Yes James you do. Come on its not that hard, its just walking down to the village and finding the girl."

"But Mum I'm under age, I can't use magic at home."

"I know but does that stop you?" Jane asked. "You don't normally care about that."

James sighed, "Fine, I'll do it."

"Good, the rest of you can do what ever you want, but just for today. As tomorrow, you have all got to help. Okay?"

They nodded.

* * *

After breakfast James set off for the village accompanied by Lily, who want to see the village. The others stayed behind and after a vote decided to have a snowball fight. At first it was Sirius and Remus against Marigold, so the golden haired girl quickly found Amy, who was delighted to have a fight against Sirius and agreed at once.

"Look." Sirius cried as they went outside, "SNOW!"

The boy ran off, and Amy followed yelling. In the end Amy decided she wanted to be with Sirius so Remus and Marigold ended up together.

"Okay Mini." Sirius said, glancing round the tree that he and Amy were currently hiding behind. "We have to win this, Goldie, Lily-Petal and their other friend beat us at school, so I need to show her that I can win."

"Why?"

"Why what.

"Why do we need to win against them?"

"Because Mini, _I _lost last time and I don't want to lose again. Anyway you always want to win."

after that statement Amy didn't ask anything else she just scooped up a pile of snow and started to make snowballs. Sirius stood there and watched her, after a while she looked up irritably.

"Paddy aren't you going to help me?"

Sirius shook his head, "No, why should I lose energy rolling snowball when I can make them like this." He flicked his wand and a pile of perfectly shaped snowballs appeared beside the roughly made ones belonging to Amy. She frowned but didn't say anything as she had seen Remus approaching. Half way through the fight Sirius and Amy turned on each other. It had happened after Amy had 'accidentally' hit Sirius in the face, and after that the black haired boy had turned on her. After that Amy, Marigold and Remus joined together and ganged up on Sirius. It was just past midday when Adam managed to escape from the watchful eyes of his wife and joined them. With four people against him Sirius soon fled to the safety of the house but to his dismay the group followed him, with Adam keeping up a constant supply of snowballs. They chased him all through the house and back into the garden. Finally Sirius surrendered after he was backed into a corner of the walled rose garden. The group trudged back to the house to find a very angry Jane waiting for them. She shouted at them for bringing the fight inside the house and made them clean up their mess. By the time they had finished it was past three and Lily and James had still not returned.


	16. Talcombe Village

AN/ Hey guys. Hope your all enjoying the story. Here's the next chapter. I'm not to sure when the next one will be up as I'm going on holiday for two-three weeks and might not have any internet, but I will try. :) :)

Talcombe Village

After breakfast, James and Lily got ready to go to the village. The village was about ten miles down the road and as it was a completely muggle village, they decided to walk.

"So" said James as they started down the road, "what are you wearing to the party?"

Lily shrugged, "I don't know. What do people normally wear?"

"Well the girls wear dresses and the boys wear dress robes."

Lily sighed, "Oh okay, then I have to go shopping. Is there a dress shop in the village?"

James nodded, "Talcombe is a bit like Hogsmead, so it has a high street and I'm pretty sure that there's a dress shop."

"Good." Lily paused for a second debating something, then asked, "Can you help me pick one out?"

"You want me to help you?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Yes James that's what I just said."

"Cool of course I'll help you, but doesn't Marigold also need a dress?"

"No, Mari goes everywhere prepared for everything, so she already has a dress."

"Won't she want to help you pick one out?"

Lily shrugged, "Mari'll get over it. It's just one dress for one party." Lily hesitated, "In about three months."

James laughed, "Never mind, whilst your here Amy can keep you company and at school you have Mary and Alice. Oh by the way, how is Alice?"

"She's okay. She spend quite a lot of time with Frank now so we don't see her that much. I'm thinking of inviting her round for the Easter holidays, cause then we can have an Easter egg hunt."

"Easter egg hunt? What's that?"

Lily stared at James, "You don't know what an Easter egg hunt is?"

James shook his head, and Lily sighed, "Well it looks like you'll also have to come round, you wont understand it properly if I explain it now."

"You're going to let me come to your house?"

Lily nodded, "Yes well you've let me come to yours, I think its only fair that you come to mine."

"I'm looking forward to it. But Lils what is an Easter egg hunt?"

Lily sighed and started explaining, by the time they got to the village, she had not only explained the Easter egg hunt but also Father Christmas and the way a telephone worked. James was fascinated by all of them.

The village was almost big enough to be a town, and the road that lead into it went passed several rows of houses before coming to a stop just before the main high street. Most of the houses had thatched roofs and looked quite old, and the closer they got to the centre the older it got. They rounded a corner and found themselves in the high street, but instead of going down the street James turned off to the right.

"Where are we going?"

"We have to find this girl for the polyjuice potion. She lives just down here."

"How are you going to get what you want?"

"Err, not sure I was just going to make something up when we saw her."

James stopped at a house and rang the bell. They waited, and the sound of footsteps could be heard from inside the house. The door opened and a boy of about twenty stood there.

"Yes?" his voice was rough, and slightly bored.

James smiled brightly, "Hello, my name is Dennis, I was wondering if er if is it your sister?" the boy nodded slowly, "if your sister was in?"

"Yeah she is, why?"

"Well if it is possible we would like to see her."

The boy stared at James, then stepped back from the door, "Come in and I'll see if she'll come down."

"Er well if its okay with you, we'll wait here."

The boy shrugged, but turned and disappeared into the depths of the house.

"Wow," Lily muttered.

"Wow what."

"Your full of surprises. Who ever knew that James Potter prankster of the school could be so polite."

James glared at her, "Your lucky your a girl Evans, and that I actually have morals."

Lily laughed, "Are you suggesting that you would-"

Lily didn't finish as a small girl with jet black hair came to the door.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"Samantha? Do you remember me? I was here last year."

The girl frowned as she stared at James , then she nodded.

"Dennis right?" James nodded. "Yeah so your back, what do you want?"

"Well my sister would like to borrow a-"

"Confundo!" Lily muttered pointing her wand at the girl.

The girls eyes widened, and Lily stepped forwards, grabbed a couple of hairs from her head and stepped back.

James stared at Lily, "Evans, what in the name of Merlin are you doing?"

Lily ignored him, and looked the girl in the eyes, "Samantha, you are going to forget everything that has just happened, you have never seen us and you will never tell anyone about us. Do you understand?" she nodded. "Good now turn around and go back into the house."

Slowly she turned round, as soon as the door closed behind her Lily relaxed; she had been tense with worry.

"Lily, what did you confund her for?"

"You weren't getting anywhere with being polite, so I decided to take matter into my own hands."

"Lil you confunded a Muggle! That's illegal. Do you really want to be sent to Askaban?"

"No of course not James, but I'm not an idiot."

"Really, its hard to see that when you used magic under age when you've still got the Trace on you."

"Oh relax James, I'm not using my own wand. I'm using Mari's."

"Why have you got Goldie's wand? Where's yours?"

"Mine is at your house, I borrowed Mari's just in case I needed to use magic, so that I would get caught."

"Amazing, Lily Evans, breaking the law, knowingly."

Lily gave James a shove, "Stop it, its your fault that I'm doing this. You rubbing off on me."

"Well maybe I will achieve at least one of my goals."

"You have goals?"

James nodded.

"What are they?"

"Ah ha now that I do not want to tell you."

"Come on Potter, are you embarrassed about telling me?"

James shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah a little bit."

"Why?"

"Cause, cause well most of them revolve around you."

Lily stopped walking and looked at James, "All your goals are to do with me?"

"Most of them. Er oh here we are. This is the only dress shop I know about in this village."

Lily looked at the shop they were now standing beside. It was small and looked very pretty. There were two mannequins in the window wearing dresses.

Lily looked at James, "Are you coming?"

James nodded, "Of course, you asked if I wanted to come on the walk down."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"Well why are we still standing outside? Lets go in, its cold." James pushed at the door and a wave of warm air blew over them as they went in. A bell tinkled announcing their arrival, and a woman's head appeared from a door way.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hi, um I'm looking for a dress for a New Years Eve party."

"Well lets see what we can do. Now what colour are you looking for?"

"Oh um, I haven't really thought about that."

"Hum okay well I think that green might look good on you. Now then lets see what we've got."

The woman started shifting through, rows and rows of dresses, pulling out a few as she went. Once she had a small collection, she took Lily to the dressing room. Lily looked at the dresses, all were different shades of green and different lengths.

Lily poked her head out from behind the curtain, "James, does er does it matter what length the dresses are?"

James looked up from the rack of dresses he was looking through, "No, not really, the older women wear long dresses but Amy and the other children wear short ones."

"So I can wear a short dress?"

James nodded, "Yeah, go ahead. Can you show me what they look like when you have them on?"

Lily nodded and her head slipped behind the curtain again. Following James' request Lily showed him each dress.

"Okay, so what about this one." Lily asked as she pulled back the curtain, to reveal a floor length dress.

"Hum," James screwed up his nose, "I'm not really liking it Lils. Is that all the green ones?" Lily nodded, "Maybe another colour would be better."

"Another colour?" Lily asked sceptically.

"Yeah, another colour. Like er like black."

"Black?"

"Oh come on Lils, it wont kill you to try on a different colour."

"Fine. Is there anything there you like? Because if so then pick it out."

"Okay then try this one." James held up a short black dress.

"Oh James that looks incredibly tight." Lily look doubtful.

"Aww come on Lils just try it, and while your doing that I keep looking."

"Oh all right." Lily took the dress and hide behind the curtain once more.

James started moving along the rails, picking out all the black dresses that weren't floor length. By the time Lily pulled the curtain back he had quite a big selection.

"James?" Lily questioned nervously. "What er what do you think?"

James turned round, and froze speechless, Lily paled.

"Don't, don't you like it?"

James shook his head, "No, no Lis I love it. I think you look absolutely amazing."

Lily truly did look amazing. The dress fit her perfectly. The bodice clung to her chest, while the bottom flared out slightly with ruffles round the edges. On the bodice there were swirls of dark silver glitter, and sequins. It had a low neck line and it ended just above the knee.

"Lils I think you should buy it, its certainly the nicest dress here."

"Lily nodded slowly, "Yeah okay. I'll just get changed, oh by the way do you have any money?"

James shook his head, "I only have galleons. Why do you need some?"

"I don't know I have a bit but I might need more."

"Well get changed and then we'll see."

Lily did as James suggested and then they went to pay. The woman had left them alone once she had picked out the first set of dresses, so she was surprised to see that Lily didn't have a green dress.

"Didn't you find a green one you liked?"

"Oh no there were plenty that we liked, but they just didn't look that good _on_ me."

The woman smiled, "Oh well never mind. Right that's £15 please."

Smiling Lily handed over the money and after getting her dress in back in a bag they left. To their surprise it was only ten to eleven. Neither of them felt like going back to the Potter mansion just at that moment, so they wondered around town for a while looking at all the different shops. James spotted a sweet shop and insisted on going in.

"Ooo Lils look! Can we go in there?" James dragged Lily over to the shop.

With a big dramatic sigh, Lily opened the door, and they went in. James was like a four year old. He had never been into a Muggle sweet shop before so all the sweets were new to him. They spent nearly an hour in the shop, with Lily telling James what all the sweets were like. When they did finally leave, James had a big bag of sweets clutched in his hand and was grinning like a toddler.

"If you ever have children James you're going to be worse than them. I can just tell."

"Wewl itch sot my fawlt." James struggled to speak through the big gob stopper in his mouth.

Lily laughed, "Well no, but if the children turn out like you then it is your fault and I personally will kill you."

"Who's children are they?"

"What do you mean."

"Well Lils I can't have children with out a woman. So who am I with."

"Oh I don't know. Lets say hypothetically for this particular argument, er me?"

"How does hypothetically fit into this? We're just talking about our future children."

"Oh yeah, that's kind of weird."

There was an awkward silence for a moment or two, then James spoke, "Lily can I just ask you something?"

"Er yeah okay."

James pursed his lips, "Lily its no secret that I'm in love with, so you know that, but I have to know Lils. Do...do you like me?"

Lily stared at James, _Oh my god, what shall I say? Shall I tell him the truth? I think I'll have to_. Lily remain silent while those thoughts and more ran through her head, until she finally answered, in a quite whisper.

"Yes James I do."

James stopped and turned to look into the red heads sparkling green eyes, "Lily will you go out with me?"

A smile spread onto Lily's lips, "Oh James I thought you'd never ask, of course I will!"

James laughed, and pulled her into a hug.

"But lets not tell the others yet." Lily whispered. "We'll just spend the rest of the day here and pretend that nothing happened."

"Yes, then we don't tell them till we get back to school? Or at the party?"

"School." Lily muttered, breathing in James' scent, "Let them find out then."


	17. New Years Eve

AN/ Hey guys I'm back. I hope you've all managed to survive two weeks without reading this story, and if not well...sorry. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and as its been ages since I last put up a chapter and as I had lots of spare time while I was away, I'm going to put up another chapter. Have fun. :)

New Years Eve

That day Lily and James got back quite late, James had taken her all around the village and shown her all the places that he liked to go to. They had got back at almost five. Marigold, on finding out that Lily had bought a dress with out her, didn't speak to her for the rest of the day and (if James had let her) would have slept in the play room. Nobody asked what had taken them so long, they all thought that they had delayed themselves so that they didn't have to help. But they were not so lucky.

When Marigold woke up the next day she found Lily still asleep. The girl wasn't really angry with her friend any more, just slightly annoyed. She watched Lily for a second then glanced over at the girls dress that was hanging from a hook on the wall next to her own electric blue one. It was pretty and it would look good on her, Marigold had to admit. She wondered over to the window, and watched the sun rise. When she heard a movement coming from James' room next door, she quietly left, and slipped into the boys rooms. One glance round the room, told Marigold that all the boys were asleep. She wondered over to Sirius' bed, making sure not to tread on any of the dirty clothes that were scattered on the floor. She bent over Sirius, and suddenly found herself laying beside him.

She giggled, "Sirius! Your awake."

"Of course I'm awake Goldie. Why are you in our room?"

"Came to see if you were awake. Lily's still asleep."

Sirius sat up, "Are you still annoyed with her?"

Marigold shrugged, "Not really sure, a little bit because she got something with out me, but I suppose I don't always need to be with her."

Sirius grinned, "If you and Lily-Petal have an argument while we are here, you'll be locked in a room until you make up."

"Hey, do you want to kill me?"

"No Goldie of course not. What time is it?"

"About seven."

"Oh good." Sirius jumped out of bed pulling Marigold with him.

"Sirius where are we going?" Marigold asked, as the black haired boy pulled her down the spiral staircase.

"We're going to the broom cupboard. You need cheering up and I think that a quick session in there will be enough. And before you try to find an excuse;its early, nobody will be up, so we will not be disturbed."

Marigold smiled, "Your too good to me Black." And the couple disappeared inside the little room.

* * *

An hour later there was a knock on the door. Sirius snaked around Marigold's body and opened the door slightly, to see Azzie standing there. The house elf grinned at him.

"Good morning Master Sirius, Mrs Potter would like you and Miss Marigold to go to breakfast now. She and the rest have been waiting for quite a while."

Sirius nodded, "Thank you Azzie."

The elf bowed, then stepped closer to the door, "Good Morning Miss Marigold."

"Morning Azzie!" came Marigold's muffled reply as she pushed her way to the door. "Come on Sirius, we better go up."

Marigold emerged from the back of the cupboard and pushed Sirius out in front of her. She smiled at Azzie.

"Thank you for telling us."

"Its my job, Miss Marigold."

With that Azzie disapparated, leaving Marigold and Sirius to make their way up stairs. When they entered the dining room, everyone looked at them and Marigold went red. Sirius just grinned at them.

"Morning! JAMES!" He cried as he spotted his best friend sitting next to Lily. "ITS NEW YEARS EVE!"

James rolled his eyes, "Really Pads? I actually didn't know that."

"Honestly Sirius, sit down." Jane said smiling. "You all need to eat as much as you can this morning as there will be no lunch and we have a lot of work to do this morning."

At this everyone at the table groaned, including Adam.

"Darling didn't we do enough work yesterday?"

"No Adam we didn't, we might have cleaned the house but we still have to decorate it."

"But we have house elves for that don't we."

"Adam, we might have house elves but they are going to be busy in the kitchens. So we will do the decorations."

"Oh but-"

"Jane-"

"Mum"

Four voices shouted out at the same time starting to protest, but they were silenced by the look on Jane's face.

"Come on now. Adam, you and I will be cleaning the path. James, Sirius, Remus, Lily and Marigold can decorate the ballroom and Amy you can go help the elves, in the kitchen."

The entire table apart from Amy groaned again. Decorating the ballroom would take forever and cleaning the drive of snow would mean getting cold and wet, Amy definitely had the best job.

* * *

After breakfast and after everybody had had a shower and gotten changed, they set about doing all the jobs Jane had given them. Before joining the others in the ballroom Lily and James had a few moments to themselves, to talk about the previous evening.

"Lil is Marigold still angry with you?"

Lily sighed, "I don't know. I think I'll try talk to her this today before the party."

"That's a good idea, but hey Lil." James caught her arm as she turned to leave, "I think we should tell them, if we don't Marigold will only get angry at you again cause you haven't told her."

Lily looked up into James' eyes, and smiled, "I will never understand you James Potter. For the first six years I knew you, you pestered me, in the seventh year, you change and stop pestering me, and start becoming a perfect gentleman. And now your offering advice on how Marigold and I should make up."

"Ah but Lils you know I'm right."

"Yes, but I didn't really want to tell you that just in case your head gets so swollen, that you can't fit through the doors tonight at the party."

James grinned, "I think its much to late for that. All the praise you showered on me yesterday, ruined all my chances."

Lily laughed, "Potter your impossible."

"Evans your-"

"Oi James, Lily!" Sirius appeared at the top of the stairs. "Stop hanging about up here, trying to get out of the work. If Mama Jane finds out your going to be in big trouble."

James sighed, "We're coming Pads." He took Lily's hand as he turned towards the stairs. "Come on Lils, its time to get decorating!"

"Yay!" Lily raised her hand in the air unenthusiastically.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at James and Lily's linked hands and was about to say something but Lily beat him.

"Yes, that's right Black. Potter and I are going out, and if you tell anyone I swear to God I will hex you into oblivion."

Sirius' eyes widened and he nodded hastily, "Wait Lily-Petal what's god?"

Lily groaned, "I'll explain when we have a a long time with nothing to do."

"Okay." Sirius bounded down the stairs and rushed headlong into the ballroom.

When she entered, Lily walked straight over to Marigold.

"Mari, can I talk to you please."

Marigold nodded, "Yeah I want to speak to you too."

There was a silence between the two girls then they both spoke at once.

"Lil listen-"

"Mari, I'm-"

Both girls stopped, and Lily nodded towards Marigold, "Go on you first."

"Okay, um Lily I am so sorry for getting mad at you. I know that we can't always go shopping together and I should never have mad such a big fuss. To be honest the dress you and James chose is really pretty and it will look absolutely amazing on you, and I don't think that I could have chosen a better one. I most certainly would not have chosen black, so I think it was an amazing choice. " Marigold took a breath. "Okay, I'm done."

Lily nodded, "Right Mari I'm sorry that I went out and got a dress with out you. I knew you wouldn't like it but I...I...I ignored that and thought that you would get over it. I was a bad friend yesterday, and I really do hope you can forgive me because I really need your help getting ready tonight. So I'm sorry again."

Marigold stared at her, "You knew I wouldn't like it, but you did it anyway?"

Lily nodded, "Yes and as I said _I no_ that makes me a bad friend and I don't know why I did that."

"But I do. Lil I always choose the dresses that you wear, the colours and most of the styles. You wanted to rebel against me and you did. You did it amazingly well." She held out her hand, "Congratulations Lily, you've made it, you now do not need me to shop for you or anything like that." she paused, "Well as long as you have James with you."

Lily smile, "Oh Mari on that, there is something else I should tell you. Something about James and I. We're-"

Lily didn't get to finish as Marigold squealed and pulled Lily into a hug.

"Oh Merlin Lily! I can't believe it, finally. When did it happen? Wait it must have been yesterday. Is that why you were out so long?"

"Err," Lily didn't know which question to answer first. Marigold sighed.

"When did it happen?"

Lily breathed a sigh of relief, "Yesterday, after we had bought my dress."

"Is that why you took so long?"

"Sort of, James showed me the village."

"How did it happen?"

"How? Mari, he asked me and I said yes. That's how most people start going out."

Marigold rolled her eyes, "I got that much. No what I meant was, what were you talking about when he asked you. How did you get on to the subject?"

"Oh right. We had just come out of the Muggle sweet shop, and had somehow got onto a conversation about James' children, when he asked who the mother was."

"And what did you say?"

"Hypothetically I said it was me."

"Lily!"

"I said HYPOTHETICALLY." Lily shouted the last word, trying to make sure that Marigold understood.

"Oh okay, sorry. Continue."

"But that's basically what happened. We just realised that what we were talking about was weird then James asked if he could ask me a question and I said yes." Lily shrugged, "You might not like it Mari but that's what happened."

"All right Lils I believe you. Do you think we'll have a chance to go down to the village before wee go back to school?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Because I want to go to the sweet shop. I love Muggle sweets, especially Chewits and er oh what's they're name? Umm."

"Minstrels." Lily sighed.

"YES! That it Minstrels. I love them. You know I am so jealous of James that he got to go there. What did he buy?"

"Um, well I bought the sweet, but er, oh yes he went to the Pick'n'Mix, and got a big bag of Skittles." she stopped as a pair of arms snaked around her waist.

"Now why are you two young ladies not doing any work?"

"James," Lily turned to face him, "we are having a much needed girl talk and a reunion."

James wrinkled his nose, "I hate girl talk. Can I go?"

"You were the one who came here, and I'm not stopping you."

"GOLDIE!" Sirius bounded up to his girlfriend, "Have you heard about Prongs and Lily-Petal?"

"Yes, Sirius I have. And its great news. Oh just wait till Alice and Mary hear about this. Lily can I tell them please?" Marigold begged Lily.

She shook her head, "No, James and I are waiting till we get to school and want to see how long it takes people to realise."

"Aww come on Prongs that's no fun what so ever."

"I don't care whether its fun or not, that's what Lily and I want to do so it shall be done that way."

Sirius was about to answer back, when the door to the ballroom opened and Jane Potter marched in. She glared at the teens, "Have you children even started? Get a move on, I want this done as soon as possible so that you can decorate the hallway, and the staircase."

"Mama Potter guess what?" Sirius cried running over to her.

Jane frowned, "What Sirius?"

"Jami and Lily-Petal are going out."

Her frown deepened, as she turned to the two teens, "I thought you said you weren't together?"

James smiled, "Yeah, but that was two days ago Mum. A lot can happen in two days if your not paying attention."

Jane nodded, "Okay well we can talk about this later. In the mean time; GET DECORATING!"

With that Jane left the room.

Remus sighed, "I suppose we better get going then. James would they mind if we used magic? I can't see how we're going to get all this done and the hallway before the guest arrive."

* * *

Amy sat on the table in the kitchens watching the house elves work. She loved having this job. She got in every year, but only because, Jane and Adam wanted to keep her out the way in case an guest came early or if any unwanted visitors came by. Azzie and Quen had got lots of extra help in for that evening, but they were all bound by their master. The ones from the rent place were bound not to tell any secrets that their current masters had. The house elves were bustling around preparing food, under Azzie and Quen's instructions. The finished plate were placed beside the little girl, who tasted each of them making sure that they were up to the Potters standard. Of course this wasn't actually necessary as the Potters had every faith in the house elves cooking, but Amy didn't tell the visiting elves that.

"Azzie!" The little girl called out swinging her legs to and fro. "Azzie, what time is it?"

"Its not even noon yet, Miss Amy. If I have permission to ask?" Amy nodded. "Why would you like to know that?"

Amy sighed, "I don't really wan to be stuck down here until an hour before the party. Do you think that I could slip upstairs and help James and the others?"

Azzie pursed her small lips as she looked at Amy, "Miss Amy it really would have been better had you not asked me. Mrs Potter forbade me to let you out of the Kitchen until an hour before the party so that you could get ready."

Amy scowled, "What about if I sneaked out of the Kitchen? Mum wouldn't be able to say anything then, because you didn't know."

Azzie opened her mouth, shut it again and shook her head, then she turned and ran off in to the heart of the kitchen. Amy didn't follow her, instead she jumped off the table and made her way towards the door.

"Miss Amy! Oh Miss Amy your alive!"

Amy spun round, and stared at the house elf that had called her name. There standing before her was one of the house elves from her parents house. Amy's mouth, opened and closed like a golfish, her eyes wide and glassy.

"Stepper." she finally managed to gasp. The little house elf bowed. Stepper was the only house elf that Amy and her parents had had. He had somehow managed to escape the massacrer, but Amy hadn't expected to ever see him again.

"Miss Amy, I was told that you were dead. What a relief it is to know that you are alive. Tell me please are Miss Amanda and your parents here?"

Amy shook her head, "No," she whispered. "Am... Aman...Amanda and-" she stopped unable to go any further.

"Miss Amy!" Quen appeared, "Miss Amy? Miss Amy are you all right?"

Amy shook her head, "Quen I need to go up stairs."

Amy turned and fled, not waiting for the house elf's reply. Quen looked towards Stepper, and frowned. "I thought that I told you to keep away from the front of the kitchen. You weren't supposed to speak to Miss Amy. She didn't need to see you."

"Forgive me for saying this Quen but Miss Amy, she...she is a wonderful girl and-"

"And nothing!" Quen exclaimed angrily, "While you are in this house hold Stepper you will do as I say. You were told to stay in the back of the kitchen. Mr and Mrs Potter only let you come here because Azzie and I promised that you were not going to speak to or see Miss Amy. It will take quite a while now till she becomes normal again, and that is all because of you."

"Where are Miss Amanda and Mr and Mrs Potter?"

"Miss Amy's sister and parents are deceased, and have been for five years. Miss Amy had-" He stopped unable to say any more. "Get back to work Stepper and this time do as your told."

Stepper bowed, and retreated. Quen quickly disaparated, he had to tell Mr and Mrs Potter about the incident.

After Amy had fled the Kitchen she went straight into the ballroom. James and the others were almost finished decorating, and they looked up when she came in. They took in her white face and her eyes, ready to overflow with tears. Lily took a step towards her, then stopped as James caught hold of her arm.

"Amy?" James questioned taking a small step forwards, "Amy what's wrong?"

Amy lip trembled, "I...I ssssaw Stepper, iiiin the Kkkitchen."

"Who's Stepper?" Marigold asked Remus in a whisper.

"He was the house elf of Amy's family. She hasn't seen him since-" he stopped. "Do you know about Amy?" Marigold shook her head.

"I'll tell you about it later." Sirius whispered.

As soon as Lily heard who Stepper was she gasped and rushed to the little girl.

"Oh Amy you poor thing!" the red head pulled the brunette into a hug, then looked at James. "James shall I take her upstairs?"

James nodded, "Yeah, you better. I should go tell Mum and Dad." He started towards the door, "Goldie go with Lily. Moony, can you and Padfoot carry on decorating?"

Remus nodded, "Yeah, course we can. Don't worry, we're almost done."

Marigold joined Lily and Amy. She touched Lily gently on the shoulder, and she looked up. "Come on we'll take her upstairs."

Lily nodded and stood, Amy clutched tightly to her, not wanting to let go. Both Lily and Marigold's were unable to release her grip so Lily ended up carrying her up.

* * *

A few minutes after they had gone, Jane and Adam appeared, James and Quen trailing behind them. Adam turned to Quen.

"All right Quen what happened?"

Quen told them, he explained as much as he knew and then went to get Stepper. Adam and Jane hardly greeted the house elf. They demanded to know what he had said to Amy. He told them unable to keep it in.

Adam sighed, and pushed his hand through his hair, "Where is Amy now?"

"She's upstairs with Lily and Marigold. Lily knows what happened." James copied his fathers movement, "I told her the other day when she first arrived."

Adam and Jane stared at him for a second then nodded, and turned to Quen and Stepper.

"Quen go back to the Kitchen. Stepper as much as we need the help, I don't think that you can stay here. Amy has had a shock, and it won't be good if she sees you again."

Stepper nodded, "May I ask you a question Mr Potter?"

Adam nodded, "Go on then but only one."

"Mr Potter how is it that Miss Amy is still alive? The paper said that the whole family had been killed."

Adam sighed, "We need to protect Amy. That is why people think she is dead. That is why you were not supposed to see her. Amy was injured in the attack and left for dead. The Death Eaters will still be after her and when they find out that she is alive Amy will be in danger."

The house elf nodded. "Thank you for telling me Mr Potter. I suppose I can't tell anyone about this can I?"

"No I forbid it."

"Very well then. Good bye Mr and Mrs Potter." the house elf bowed, "It puts joy into my heart to know that at least one of my family is still alive."

With a _pop_ the elf disappeared, and the occupants of the ballroom were left staring at air. There was silence, the only thing in the room that could be heard was the breathing of five people. Jane slowly made her way to the door.

"I'll go check on Amy."

Once Jane had gone, Adam turned to the tree boys, "Come on then lads, we better get this decorating done. James, you and Remus go out into the hallway and start there, while Sirius and I finish off in here. Then we'll go outside and finish the drive."

For once the boys didn't complain, they just did as they were told.

* * *

Jane Potter paused outside her niece/daughter's room. Inside she could hear Lily's calm, comforting voice, explaining something to Amy. Jane didn't enter, instead she stood leaning against the door listening to what Lily was saying. Inside the room, Lily and Marigold were sitting on the bean bags with Amy. Both girls were trying to comfort the girl in any why they could, and it seemed as if they were succeeding, if only slightly.

"Amy listen," Lily tried again, "I know its hard getting over the deaths of people, especially when you see someone who knew them."

"But you don't understand!" Amy cried, "Nothing like this has ever happened to you!"

"No Amy your wrong. My parents and sister might not have been killed, but I did lose my grandparents. They died and I took ages getting over them, and when I had finally got over it, I met my grandma's twin sister."

"But its not the same," hissed the small girl, glaring at Lily.

Lily sighed, giving up and Marigold had a go.

"Amy, you will never forget your family and the pain will always be there, but you can't keep living in the past. You managed to overcome your grief once and you can do it again. No! Don't speak just listen. Seeing your old house elf roused memories, happy ones and sad ones, but memories are good, just think would you ever want to forget your family?"

Amy shook her head, "No, but I-I I thought that I had got over them but I haven't."

"You have. You got over them, but seeing Stepper, as I said, brought back memories. You have to get over it Amy, otherwise you can never be happy."

"You do want to be happy Amy, don't you?" Lily asked uncertain.

Amy nodded, "It's just so so hard, after all that's happened."

"I know Amy, no matter what you think I know. You just have to be happy that they had a good time while they were alive. They would want you to be happy and to live for them." Amy stared at Lily.

"Do you think they can see me?"

Lily and Marigold glanced at each other uneasily, outside the door Jane held her breath, begging quietly that the girls would say the right thing. Lily closed her eyes, knowing that if she said the wrong thing they would go back to the beginning.

She took a deep breath, and still with her eyes closed answered the girl, "Yes Amy, I do think they can see you, and they will be very proud of you for being so strong."

Jane let out a sigh of relief, and leaned weakly against the door. _Oh thank Merlin Lily said that. I really must thank them, later. They seemed to have gotten Amy back to normal, much faster than I would have._

Amy beamed at the two girls, "All right Lily, Marigold, I'll be strong, for Amanda and my parents." she gasped suddenly, "Do you want to see my dress for tonight?"

"Of course!" Marigold cried.

Eagerly, the little girl jumped up, ran over to her cupboard and pulled out a pink flowery dress. She showed it to Marigold and Lily, pride visible on her face.

"Wow, I love it Amy." Marigold nodded agreeing with Lily.

"Hey Amy, how about Lily and I help you get ready for the party. If your mum will allow it then you might be able to have a bit of make-up on. How about it?"

Amy's face lit up even more, and she looked as if she was about to explode with happiness and excitement, "Oh yes please, that would be wonderful."

"Well that's good. Come on now I reckon we've spent more than enough time up here. The boys will be livid that we have got out of helping so I think that we should go down."

Marigold groaned, "Always thinking about other people aren't you Lils. But," she said hurriedly seeing Lily's face, "I think we should go down."

As soon as Jane heard Lily's suggestion, she turned and walked quickly down the corridor to the steps. When she arrived on the ground floor, she stared around in shock. During the five or ten minutes she had been upstairs, the hallway had been decorated. None of the boys were in sight and the house was silent apart from the faint echoing of footsteps from the three girls. A shout of laughter came from outside the house. Jane turned towards the front doors, at the same time as it opened and the three boys and Adam came in, wet and covered in snow. They were laughing, but they stopped abruptly when they saw Jane.

"How is she?" Adam asked, looking worriedly at his wife.

Jane smiled, "It sounds to me as if she is better. Lily and Marigold worked wonders on her, I didn't even go in."

The girls came round the corner, and on seeing Jane, Amy rushed forwards, "Mum! Mum, Marigold and Lily want to help me get ready for the party, can they? Can I put make-up on?"

Jane smiled, "Of course you can Amy, but Lily, Marigold not too much make-up. She's only ten after all."

* * *

For the rest of the morning Jane allowed the children to do what they wanted, seeing as the hallway, ballroom and drive had been done. Lily and James managed to escape from the other four, for five minutes, as they caught them up.

"LILY!" Marigold yelled as the rounded a corner in the garden. "LILY EVANS! How dare you sneak away from me and leave me with Black and Lupin! I-"

"Mari why are you making such a fuss? Black's your boyfriend and Remus and Amy could have played a game together, or something."

Amy's eyes widened, "Your going out? Well thank you James for telling me."

James grinned at his sister, "Sorry Am, but some things need to be found out and not told."

Amy scowled but didn't say anything else, instead she bend down, scooped up a pile of snow and threw it at James. It hit him square in the face, he spluttered, then made his own snowball and threw it back at her. With in a few seconds the Sirius and Remus had joined in. Marigold and Lily stayed well away from the fight not wanting to get wet. James spotted them and whipped out his wand summoning two snowballs and sending them towards the girls. Neither of them saw balls speeding towards their heads.

"JAMES POTTER!" Lily and Marigold screeched, glaring at him. James grinned, then his face became scared, as he saw the looks on both girls.

"Okay Potter, I'll give you ten seconds to run then we come after you." Marigold threatened.

"One, two." Lily started counting and James fled, "skip a few nine, ten. Charge!"

Neither of the girls ran, they just took out their wands and James fell flat on his face, from a stunning spell by Marigold.

"It was only a joke Goldie!" James cried, trying to get away from the angry blond.

"Joke! It was only a joke Potter! My hair is wet! There is a party tonight! What do you think-"

"Mari lay off. We can easily dry our hair."

"Lily stop protecting your boyfriend."

Marigold raised her wand and Lily was really starting to worry about James' safety. Quickly she glanced at her watch and was relived to see that it was almost seven.

"Mari! We need to go get ready, its almost seven. We're not going to have enough time if we don't go now."

Marigold's head shot up, "WHAT! Lily are you serious?"

"No Mari, I'm Lily, that is Sirius." Lily pointed at the black haired boy still throwing snowballs at Remus and Amy.

Marigold rolled her eyes, "Funny Lils. Come on we need to go. AMY! Time to get ready. Come on hurry. We're already late."

Marigold firmly took hold of Lily and Amy, and steered them off to the house, and upstairs. Sirius frowned watching the girls go.

"Why are they getting ready so early? There's hours till the party."

"Padfoot mate, they're girls, what do you expect? Merlin mate one of them is your girlfriend." Remus sighed. Sometime Sirius could really be an idiot.

* * *

At eight thirty the boys trudged inside the house, to dry off and get ready. They met Jane on the way up the side stairs. She was dressed in a very pretty floor length grey dress, her long blond hair done up in a bun at the back of her head. She smiled at them as they passed.

"Hey boys. You going to get ready?" they nodded, "Good you'd better hurry;the party starts at nine so you've only got half an hour. Oh James, can you make sure that Amy has taken her polyjuice potion and that the house elves have the other doses in the kitchen."

Jane didn't even wait for a reply as she swept passed them. The boys arrived on the top floor, to hear yelling coming from the girls room, after listening for a few seconds they realised that it was Lily's.

"Marigold! You idiot, you burnt me with those bloody tongs!"

"Well that's cause your not keeping still! Oh Merlin Lily hold STILL!" the last word turned into a high pitched squeak, and there was a yell of pain from Lily. James rushed to the door, with Sirius and Remus right behind them. They burst through the door. Lily was standing by the window, clutching the back of her neck, Marigold was behind her, holding a pair of curling tongs and glaring at Lily. Amy was sitting quietly on one of the beds watching the older girls with amusement. Marigold looked up when the door opened, but instead of glaring at the boys she smiled.

"Oh Remus. Your good at healing people aren't you? Can you come and sort Lily's neck out please. It got a bit burnt."

Remus sighed, pulling out his wand as he hurried towards them. With in seconds the welts had vanished, and Lily relaxed. She turned ready to thank Remus, but Marigold got there before her.

"Right, thank you Remus. Now then boys get out! We haven't finished yet and we only have a small amount of time left."

Not wanting Marigold to get mad at them the boys left as fast as possible. When they returned ten minutes later they found Amy sitting outside.

"Hey Amy are they almost finished?"

Amy shrugged, "No idea. I left shortly after you. James do you have my potion? I can't find it."

"Slip down to the kitchens then or is it in your room? You'd better go check."

Amy got up and disappeared into her room, when she returned she had changed. Her short brown hair was now long and black, she was also slightly taller.

"I found it! How do I look?"

The boys looked her up and down before pronouncing her looking wonderful. The door to the girls room opened and Marigold appeared, her blond hair straightened and piled on top of her hair in a loose messy bun. Her dress came to just above her knees and was very floaty and elegant. Sirius was speechless, as he stared at his beautiful girlfriend. Marigold grinned at them and turned towards the door as Lily appeared. James' breath stopped in his throat;Lily looked like a goddess. Her long red hair, tumbled down her back in gorgeous curls, the dress was done up as tightly as possible, as to show off her small waist.

"Wow." James managed to croak, "Lils you look amazing."

Lily smiled happily at him, "Thanks, but you need to thank Marigold for the way I look. If it was up to me, I would just have left my hair down and not put any make-up on."

"That is one thing I don't understand about you Lily. We have so much in common, but you hate dressing up! It is just criminal."

The group laughed, and Remus stepped forwards, "Come on, Jane wants us down there to greet the guests, and its almost nine." he turned to Amy, "Amy would you like to accompany me down?"

Amy nodded and took his arm. Sirius grabbed Marigold's and James offered his to Lily. Then the three couples made their way to the stairs and a night of partying.


	18. The Party

AN/ Hey again, so this is the little treat for you guys. Hope you have fun reading. :) xx

The Party

The first guest to arrive was Jane's father. He pulled Jane into a tight hug, and slowly limped into the hall. He greeted Adam and James, then made his way into the living room, where Amy and the others were waiting. Slowly other guests started to arrive and soon the ballroom and living room was full. The walls separating the living room from the ballroom and dining room had been taken away leaving the whole of the back rooms open, most of the furniture from the living room had been removed and was an extension to the ballroom. As soon as he could James left his parents at the door and entered the ballroom. He scanned the crowds of people for Lily, finally spotting her dancing with Remus. Sirius, Marigold and Amy were also dancing; Sirius and Marigold together and Amy with a man who looked about twenty. Lily soon spotted James, and as soon as she did she left Remus and went to him.

"Hey. How was greeting people?"

"Boring. You're lucky Lils."

Lily laughed, "I might not have to greet people but I have to do other things."

"Are they as bad as saying 'hello' to people you have never met?"

"Maybe."

"Come on Lils," James sighed taking her hand, "lets go dance."

He lead her off and they stayed there on the dance floor together until Sirius demanded a dance with Lily. Unwillingly James gave her up and took Amy, while Remus went with Marigold. After some time Sirius dragged Lily over to where James and Amy were.

"Prongs!"

James looked up, "Pads, what wrong."

"Prongs, I want to ask you a question." Sirius said his face stern, "Prongs will you have this dance with me?"

James grinned, "Finally Pads. I thought you had forgotten about me."

"Not a chance." Sirius grinned back.

The two boys grabbed each others hands and started moving towards the centre of the room. Lily and the others watched them, from the side. The rest of the couples on the floor laughed when they saw James and Sirius. It seemed as if they were used to it.

"They do that every year." Amy told them. "Its one of their strange traditions, that they have to do."

"They're a cute couple. I think we need to start worrying Lils." Marigold whispered to her friend.

Lily laughed, "I think your right Mari, but there is a lot we can do to stop our boyfriends from dumping us."

"Like what?"

"Well maybe if you and Black would like to vacate the broom cupboard for one night, I think I could ensure that James sticks to me."

Marigold raised her eyebrows, "Lily Evans, I am shocked to hear you say something like that."

Lily just grinned even more, and returned her attention to the boys. Remus turned to Amy and without a word, pulled her onto the dance floor. Lily glanced at Marigold.

"Mari, do you think we should follow in our boyfriends footsteps?"

Marigold nodded, "Definitely."

So to the surprise of all the guests, there were suddenly two girls dancing together next to the two boys. At ten minutes to midnight, the music stopped and Adam and Jane appeared over the heads of their guests, standing on chairs.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to thank you all for coming, and would like to wish you a happy new year, which it will be in ten minutes time." he paused as there was a loud cheer, and Adam smiled, "So in preparation, if you would like to collect glasses of champagne from dining room and make you way out onto the patio."

Adam stepped down then turned and helped his wife down. Jane, having spotted the teens from her chair, made her way towards them.

"James!" She called, "James!"

James turned to her, "Yes Mum?"

"James you are not allowed to have any alcohol. Do you understand? Amy your not having any either. Sirius...well your of age so you can have some if you want. BUT your not allowed to give James any. Do you understand?"

Sirius nodded, "Yes Mama Jane."

"Good. Now where did Adam get to? Oh Amy, don't forget to top up."

Amy nodded and then Jane disappeared back into the crowd of people. Sighing Amy also left, and James groaned.

"Trust my mum to spoil this night. No alcohol."

"Aw never mind James." Lily said leaning against him, "Just because Black has been banned from getting you a drink, doesn't mean someone else can."

James stared at her, "Lils would you get me a glass of wine?"

Lily grinned, "Maybe. Come on, I want to go outside, we can grab glasses on the way out."

"What about the others?"

Lily glanced behind them; Remus was talking animatedly to a witch and Sirius and Marigold were to absorbed in each other to notice them, "They won't miss us, come on."

* * *

Lily pulled them out of the ballroom and into the empty side corridor. The noise from the ballroom could still be heard, slightly muted.

"What are we doing out her Lils?" James asked following Lily.

"Its too noisy in there, and its easier to get to the drinks this way. Besides I wanted-"

She stopped suddenly, making James run into her.

"What?" he asked.

"Shh" Lily hissed, pressing a finger to his lips, "Listen."

James bent his head closer to where Lily indicated and held his breath as he heard two voices speaking in hushed tones; one of them was his father.

"Adam I'm worried. He's getting stronger, and one day he'll-"

"Paul. Stop worrying. Yes, he might be getting stronger, but he wont get to us no matter what."

"But he will Adam. One day he'll be strong and brave enough to come for you. You, Jane, James and Amy. Then what will you do? What will you do Adam?"

"Nothing. Because Paul I tell you nothing will happen to us."

"Adam, you will be the first people he comes for. You and anyone else your family is connected to. Even James and Amy's school friends. No one will be safe."

Lily felt herself go cold when she heard their words, James' arms snaked around her waist.

"Lils. Lils come one, we can't stay here."

Lily didn't resist and allowed James to pull her away. They re-entered the ballroom. It was slightly more empty of people, so they had no trouble of getting through the crowds and pushing their way out onto the patio. Rather than trying to find their friends, Lily and James contented themselves by standing by the railings. They were silent, neither of them wanted to talk about what they had just heard, neither of them wanted to think what could happen. There was no doubt in their minds who Adam and his friend had been talking about- Voldermort. He was getting stronger, Lily knew that, James knew that, in fact almost everyone knew that. It seemed like no time at all had passed, when the count down started.

"TEN!"

A big glittering number ten appeared in the sky.

"NINE!"

It changed to a nine.

"EIGHT!"

Azzie appeared, beside them, handed them two glasses of champagne and promptly vanished again.

"SEVEN!"

There was a yell, from the garden and James and Lily spotted Marigold having a go at Sirius for throwing a snowball at her.

"SIX!"

There was a flash of light and another yell and Marigold hexed Sirius.

"FIVE!"

James tightened his arms around Lily and bent forwards.

"FOUR!"

Lily turned towards him.

"THREE!"

Their eyes locked.

"TWO!"

James leaned closer, hesitating an inch away from her lips.

"ONE!"

Lily closed her eyes.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Their lips met. Fireworks exploded all around them. They were clueless to everything, as they kissed. When they finally broke apart both were breathing heavily.

"LILY!" Marigold's voice squealed from the garden. "Oh Merlin LILY! You kissed him!"

Lily went bright red as almost all the guests turned to look at her and James. James just grinned at them, not really bothered. He took Lily's arm and lead her back indoors, and soon Lily found herself having a great time in the broom cupboard.

* * *

Marigold's yell had distracted Sirius from preparing to throw water over her. He looked in his best friends direction, only to be disappointed; the couple was gone. However at the mention of Lily and James kissing, reminded Sirius that he also had a girlfriend.

"Goldie! Goldie I need a kiss!"

Marigold turned to glare at him, "You need a kiss? Well Black, I'm sorry to inform you that you will not-"

Marigold was interrupted, as Sirius rushed forwards and kissed her.

"Broom cupboard Black." Marigold muttered.

Reluctantly they broke apart and raced to the cupboard, and pulled open the door.

"Padfoot? What the hell?"

Sirius and Marigold stared at a very ruffled, very embarrassed Lily and James.

"Aww come on Prongs. Goldie and I have already ensured that this was _our_ spot."

"First come first Pads. Now go away and close the door, Lils and I were busy."

Grumbling, Sirius shut the door again, "Where can we go now? The best place has been taken, so what about-. Oooh what about Mama Jane's office?"

"You want to make out in Mrs Potter's office? Ha, no way Sirius." Marigold laughed. "Lets go upstairs and lock ourselves in a bathroom or James' room."

Sirius shrugged, "Okay, lets go Goldie."

* * *

Remus stayed outside after the countdown and fireworks enjoying the celebrations. He had seen Sirius and James slip off with their girlfriends, and didn't even want to think about what they were doing. He turned towards the witch who he had been talking to for most of the evening.

"Remus, I was wondering what would you like to do after you leave Hogwarts?"

"Oh well I'm not too sure. Its a bit difficult, you see."

"Ahh because of you Lycanthropy?"

Remus stared at her astonished, "How do you know about that?"

The witch smiled kindly at him, "Mr Lupin, I am an expert on Magical Creatures. I know the signs of a werewolf, and I also happened to read the article when IT happened. But I am sure that no matter what you will be able to find a job."

"Really? You believe that?"

The witch nodded, "Yes, because if you don't get a job offer from anyone, just contact me and I guarantee that you will get a job."

"Oh thank you. I will do that."

Full of elation Remus left the witch and made his way over to Amy, who was trapped in conversation with the boy she had first been dancing with. He paused however a few meters away from them and listened to their conversation. The boy was trying to get Amy to kiss him, and somehow the ten year old was keeping him at bay. Her eyes swept the crowd, looking for an escape, seeing this Remus stepped forwards, but was beaten by Jane Potter.

"Amy! Amy, there you are. Your brother is looking for you, now come along quickly. He wants to go home."

Amy nodded, "Okay Mrs Potter." she looked at the boy, "I'm sorry but I have to go. It was nice to meet you."

She turned quickly and followed Jane. Mrs Potter stop round the corner, just out of sight.

"Amy, I do not want you talking to that boy again. He is _not_ someone you should be connected to. I want you to find James or Remus or one of the others and stick to them."

"But Mum, James and Paddy are busy, and I don't know where Remus is."

"Oh James and Sirius are busy are they then. Well I think I'll have to sort that out then." Jane looked round and then spotted Remus by the door. She waved him over.

"Remus can you make sure that Amy stays with you. In fact I think you might want think about going to bed. Oh and if you know where James and Sirius are, you might want to get to them before I do."

Remus nodded and Jane was swallowed up by the guest. Amy turned to Remus.

"I am not going to bed." she said stubbornly. "Not yet."

"I wasn't even going to suggest it. But we do need to find Sirius and James."

Amy sighed and the two of them disappeared inside the house. However instead of going to look for the two couples, they went to the kitchen. Azzie and Quen greeted them happily, pressing them for information about what the guests thought about the food. All the extra house elves had long since left, and the kitchen was cast in gloom. They stayed there talking for half an hour, until Remus decided that they should try and find the four teens, reluctantly Amy agreed. The first place they went was the broom cupboard, and to their astonishment found it empty. Lily and James had moved on when they heard some of the guest leaving. After searching the whole of the bottom floor, they made there way to the second, but here also after a quick spell they left. Jane and Adam's floor they left alone, and went straight to the top. It didn't take them long to find Sirius and Marigold making out in James' room. They broke apart as soon as the door opened.

"Moony, Minnie. What are you doing here?"

Remus grinned at Sirius, "We're here to inform you that we should start getting ready for bed and that Jane isn't very happy with you or James."

"Why? What have we done?"

"Not stayed at the party. I think Jane wanted James to say 'good bye' to the guests, like she and Adam have to do."

"Well he should be there then. If Mama Jane went to look for us, then she would have found Prongs and Lily-Petal in our broom cupboard."

"Your broom cupboard?" Remus asked fighting back a laugh.

"Yes! Our broom cupboard. What's so funny about that?"

None of them answered as the door opened again and Jane appeared.

"Okay, where is James? If you know, don't try to protect him, just tell me right now."

Remus glanced at Sirius and he glanced at Marigold. Jane followed their looks with stern eyes.

"So none of you know where the is?" they shook their heads, Jane pursed her lips, and was about to say something else, when the door opened for a third time. James came in first pulling Lily behind him. Neither of them noticed the group in the room as James kissed Lily roughly and pushed her back against the door, closing it at the same time. Jane coughed and the couple broke apart, and stared in shock at Jane and their friends.

"Hello James. Its nice that you finally decided to show yourself."

"Hi Mum. Er hows er hows everything going?"

"Very good James. But I think that it is time for all of you to go to bed now. You will have to help us tomorrow to clean up before you go back to school."

Then she smiled suddenly, "Goodnight, don't stay up too much longer."

Jane turned and left the room still smiling. There was silence for several seconds, then Sirius spoke.

"Moony, I thought you said that she was angry at us?"

"I thought she was."

"Why was Mum angry at us?"

"Oh not me and Remus." Amy said, "Just you and Paddy."

"Why?"

"Because you disappeared just after the fireworks."

"Is that all?" James seemed slightly bored, and when Amy nodded, James smiled, "Well seeing as she has now gone, I think Lily and I will disappear again and-"

"Oh no you don't James." Marigold rushed forwards and grabbed hold of Lily's hand. " You are not taking my friend away again. You've had enough time with her."

James groaned, "Fine Goldie, take her away but we're going to have a sleepover in your room."

"Really?" Marigold asked, tiredly.

"Of course Goldie," Sirius cried, "Why shouldn't we?"

Marigold sighed, "Because I'm tired, and I really believe what Jane said about us helping."

The group understood what Marigold said, and as they all knew Jane, they started to leave James' room. Amy went quietly into her own room, Marigold and Lily pretended to go as well, but as soon as her door had closed, Lily and Marigold closed James' door. Lily walked over to James and whispered something in his ear, he nodded slowly, and looked up at their friends.

"There is something we have to tell you. When we left the patio, we over heard my dad and one of his colleagues talking, talking about Voldermort."

The room was in complete silence as, James told them what he and Lily had overheard.

"No way!" Marigold gasped, "Do they really think that he's going to come after you?"

"My dads friend does. I do think we should forget that though. It might be dangerous."

"Prongs, do you think that anybody connected to you would be in danger?"

James nodded, "Yes, dads friend said that."

Sirius swore, "What's the betting my parents will have something to do with this as well."

"As well?" Lily asked.

Sirius nodded, "Yeah, as well. Don't tell Amy this, but my stupid parents helped arrange the attack on her family."

The was another shocked silence. Then Lily turned towards the door, "Come on Mari, I'm tired and I need some sleep. See you guys tomorr- oh well later today I suppose."

Marigold followed Lily after saying good night. As soon as the girls had gone James turned to Sirius.

"You didn't have to say that Pads. I'm sure you parents wont-"

"James, my mum and dad are Death Eaters. I know that, most people know that, and I felt like I had to tell them that. No don't ask me why, I just did."

Remus and James didn't say any more and with in a few minutes, they were changed and in their beds, it was the same in the girls room. An hour later all the teenagers were asleep and downstairs in Adam's office not all the guests had left. Adam, Jane, her father and two others were deep in discussion, safe from prying eyes and ears by protective charms, that only dark magic could brake.


	19. New Years Day

AN/ Hey guys. ITS SUMMER! I hope you all have a wonderful holidays and here's the next chapter. Enjoy :) xx

New Years Day

It was almost midday when the five teenagers finally got up. The girls were the first ones up, and they went downstairs. The rooms were empty and the ballroom, living room and dining room were all clean. Jane and Adam were no where in sight, so Marigold and Lily went to the kitchen for food.

When they returned they were just in time to see Jane and Adam emerge from Adam's office with two of the guests from last night-they were all still wearing their party clothes. Mr and Mrs Potter looked at them in astonishment, neither of them had expected any of them up so early.

"Oh good morning girls. I didn't know any of you were up. How did you sleep?"

"Quite well thank you." Marigold answered.

Adam coughed, and stepped towards the guest, "Yes well, I'll see you at work tomorrow Paul."

One of the men nodded, "Yes, we'll see you then Adam and you too Jane. It was a wonderful party."

The group headed towards the door, and Lily and Marigold watched as they said good bye.

Jane turned to look at the girls, "Are the boys still asleep?"

"Yes."

"The lazy little-"

"Who's lazy Mum?" James appeared from around the corner, fully dress, followed by Sirius and Remus.

Adam smiled, "No one James don't worry. Um when are you going back to school?"

"Tomorrow. School starts in four days and we need to do our homework, and quite a bit of revision."

"How are you getting back? Are you going the same way you came?"

"Er I think we'll use floo powder."

"Where will you floo to? You can't get to the school unless we manage to contact Dumbledore."

James shrugged, "If possible we'll go to school."

Adam nodded, "Okay well I sort that out, now either go pack or get out of our sight."

The teens hurriedly did as they were told, and ended up outside on the patio. Sirius stretched, yawned and looked round the grounds, with heavy tired eyes, which suddenly brightened up.

"Lets play quiddich! Come on Prongs, we'll get Minnie and then the teams will be even."

James sighed, "Who else wants to play quiddich apart from Sirius?"

After a slight pause Marigold and Remus said they would play and only after a glare from Marigold did Lily also consent. Sirius immediately rushed off to get the broomsticks and Marigold went to find Amy. James glanced at Lily, who was frowning.

"You don't want to do this do you?"

Lily shrugged, "Its all right, I don't really mind. If Mari wants to play then so will I."

"You'll do this for your friend?"

"No, its more like I'll do this so as _not_ to get my friend angry at me."

They stopped talking then as Marigold returned with Amy.

"Who's team am I on?" she asked excitedly.

"We haven't decided the teams yet, but Lily is on mine, and I think Goldie is on Sirius'. Is that right?"

"I don't know. Does Sirius want me on his team."

"Of course I do Goldie! How could you think something like that?"

Marigold smiled, "You can't always presume that things will happen."

Sirius shrugged, "Oh well. Right so my team is...Goldie...and...Minnie!"

"Yes!" Amy cried and ran over to Sirius, "Thank you Paddy."

"Okay so Lils and Moony are on mine. Pads give us some brooms."

They split the brooms between them, Sirius and James nabbing the best ones, and followed James and Sirius across the garden, through a small hole in a hedge and onto a huge expanse of open ground. James waved his wand and immediately three goal posts shot up at each end of the field and, a quwaffel, and snitch appeared. The six of them mounted their brooms, and kicked off from the ground. James swooped low and grabbed the quwaffle off the floor. He tossed it to Remus, who threw it back to James. Lily was soaring high in the sky her eyes searching for the snitch, Sirius was also looking for it, however he was also helping Marigold and Amy. Lily cheered as James shot a goal. Over the next two hours, both teams shot several goals. James' team was trailing Sirius' by ten points and neither Lily nor Sirius had spotted the snitch. Remus insisted on a break and as soon as they had touched down, Lily begged to swap positions. James said that he would take it, saying that he needed to get some practice for the matches that were coming up at school. Ten minutes later they were up in the air again. There were no bludgers in the game, James said that they always played it that way, but Remus whispered to Lily that Jane wouldn't let Amy play if they had the bone breaking magical balls flying round. With James as Seeker, Sirius stopped helping Marigold and Amy, and the score quickly turned in favour of James' team. However after another three hours the snitch still hadn't been caught, and the score was 640 to 570, with James' team in the lead.

"Okay Prongs!" Sirius shouted, panting slightly. "I think I want to stop playing now, I'm tired."

"Really Pads, we've only been playing for...humm five hours?"

"FIVE HOURS!" Sirius yelled. "Are you serious?"

"No we're not Sirius, you are. Honestly your seventeen and you still don't know your own name. It is disgraceful." Marigold answered, while the rest started laughing.

Sirius glared at them, "Okay very funny. Have we really been out for five hours?"

James nodded, "I'm surprised that mum hasn't come out already telling us to go pack."

"Maybe she's busy." Remus suggested.

James shrugged, "Yeah maybe. Anyway are we going to keep playing or shall we stop?"

"I think we need to keep playing till we find the snitch. We can't leave without finding it."

"Yeah, Sirius is right." Lily said unhappily, "We'll have to stay out here."

"Well at least this will give us a chance to get even with you." Marigold climbed back on to her broom, "Come on guys, lets finish this off quickly."

Lily frowned as she to got onto her broom, then her face lit up, "James." She hissed.

"What?"

"Look over behind Sirius. Can you see it?"

James looked towards his best friend, and smiled, as he saw what Lily had seen before him. "Okay keep him occupied while I get it."

Lily nodded, and raised her voice as James flew off "Oi Black!"

Sirius glanced at her, "What?"

"I was wondering, you know you said that you had eyes in the back of your head?"

"Err really, when?"

"In fifth year, when I asked how you were able to get out of Slughorn giving you a detention, for hexing Snape."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Why?"

"Because I don't think I believe you any more."

"And why is that Lily-Petal?" Sirius asked shocked.

Lily grinned, "Because James is right behind you with the snitch."

"WHAT!" Sirius spun round, to stare at James. "Noooooooo!" he howled. "Merlin how could you have won! We were doing so well!"

"Well Padfoot, you just don't have the amazing Seeker on your team." Remus said with a smile. "Nice one Lily. Hey James ever thought about putting Lily on the team? She might make a better Seeker than you."

Lily laughed, "Oh I don't think so Remus. It was only by chance that I saw the snitch."

Amy flew over to her, "I'm glad you saw the snitch Lily, even though we didn't win."

"Winning doesn't matter Amy, it was just a game."

"Oh yes, its just a game Lils." Said Marigold joining them, "But somehow I don't think that Sirius sees it in that way."

The three girls looked over at Sirius. The black haired boy, was throwing a tantrum, and yelling at James and Remus who were trying to calm him down. They settled down on the grass to wait and after ten minutes the boys joined them. James flopped down beside Lily, and grinned at her.

"Ewww." Amy screwed up her face as James and Lily kissed, "Can't you do that somewhere else?"

"We could go into your bedroom." James said happily, and then laughed at Amy's horrified face. "Don't worry Am, we wont go in there, in fact we wont kiss in front of you for the rest of the time we are here. Is that okay?"

Amy nodded, "That's fine."

Marigold opened her mouth then to speak, but was interrupted, by a high pitched voice from across the lawn.

"Master James!"

The group looked up Quen was hurrying across the grass towards them. He stopped panting slightly.

"Master James, Mrs Potter would like to see you in her office, right now, and she would also like the rest of you to get ready for dinner."

"What does she want?"

"I do not know, Master James. Mrs Potter just told me to find you and tell you to go to her as fast as you can and for the others to get ready for dinner."

James sighed, "Okay thank you Quen." He stood up, "Come on guys, lets go."

They got up and as they left the field, the posts vanished again beneath the ground. When they entered the house, James went off in the direction of his parents offices, while the rest went up stairs to freshen up and change the sweaty clothes.

They didn't see James until they went down for dinner, Amy took one look at her brothers face and demanded to know what was happening. Jane and Adam looked at each other and a message passed between the two. Jane sighed and Adam turned to Amy and the teens.

"We got a message about an hour ago, from Granddads neighbour."

"Granddad?" Amy asked alert, "Is he all right?"

Adam pursed his lips, "No he's not. He's...he's dead. He was killed by the killing curse, sometime this afternoon."

There was a shocked silence, then Sirius spoke his voice hard.

"Was it Death Eaters?"

Adam nodded, "We're not sure, but we are assuming so, yes."

"Do you know which of _them_ were responsible?"

Adam looked sadly at Sirius, "His neighbour said that there was a girl with long black hair, and a man with short black hair with a crest on his shirt."

"Was it?"

Adam nodded again, "Yes it looked like it."

"Curse the bastards to-"

"Sirius!" Jane glared at him, "Don't use any kind of language like that in my house and you most certainly will not use it in front of Amy. Do you understand?"

"Yes, of course I understand that, and I'm sorry. But to think that my idiot of-"

"Sirius, don't" James spoke from where he was sitting against the wall. "Just leave it. Mum I'm not hungry."

James pushed himself up from the wall and walked out the room. Sirius followed him, slamming the door as he went. Marigold and Lily stared at each other in confusion, while Amy sat down on the floor.

Adam looked at the two girls and Remus, "You three can go up stairs, I don't think there will be any dinner today, if your hungry just ask Azzie or Quen for food."

They nodded and left. They didn't speak until they got up to the girls room and had the door firmly closed behind them.

"Remus, what's going on?" Marigold demanded.

Remus sighed, "I don't know any more than you do."

"Which is?"

"Which is that James' granddad (Jane's father) is dead, killed by Death Eaters."

"But why was Sirius so uptight and...well angry?"

"Because of his parents."

"His Parents?" Lily asked confused.

"You know Sirius' parents are supporters of Voldermort, don't you." The girls nodded, "Well, Sirius' father was involved in the attack against Amy and her family. And seeing as Jane's dad has just been killed, Sirius wanted to know if his family were to blame again."

"And they were, weren't they?" Lily asked, "The girl who Adam described is part of his family?"

Remus nodded, "Yes, we know her as well, she left Hogwarts a few years ago. She's Sirius' cousin Bellatrix Black, and the man was Sirius' dad. James didn't want Amy to know that it was Sirius' family responsible for the death; she doesn't know about their involvement with her parents either."

Marigold stared at Remus, "So Sirius is feeling awful because his family have caused the Potters pain?"

"Yes, that is exactly what is wrong."

They turned, Sirius stood at the door. Marigold gasped, jumped up and threw her arms around his neck.

"Sirius, I am so sorry. You family is a whole load of Hippogrif dung. How could they think of doing something like that? Its completely unthinkable."

"No its not. My family are huge supporters of Voldermort, and the Potters resist him. They went after Jane's dad because somehow they found out that he knew something that was important."

"Where's James, Sirius?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. He went out the front door, so I went out the back. He's probably going for a walk, but I doubt that we will see him tonight and tomorrow."

"He's not coming back with us?"

"No. I'm guessing that he'll stay here until the funeral and then come back to school."

"Are you staying?"

"No. If Jane would allow me, I'd leave the house tonight, but she wont. I can't bear seeing all their family and friends knowing that _my_ own family was responsible for their grief."

"Should we leave tonight?" Lily asked, "They probably won't want us round at the moment."

"That would be a good idea. But we'll have to apparate to Hogsmead and then walk up to the school. Papa Potter wouldn't be able to arrange something with the Floo Network at such short notice."

"Shall I go ask them?" Remus asked, standing up. They nodded and he left. They waited in silence, until he returned a few minutes later.

"Adam says we can go if we want to, but Jane doesn't want us to go until tomorrow. However I think that we should go. They need to be alone at a time like this. All we need to do is tell Adam and he'll let us go."

"Well, we better start packing then. Come on Mari, we've got a lot to do before we're ready to go."

The boys left the room, to pack their own cases and to tell Adam and Jane that they were leaving. By six thirty, four cases were packed and ready to go by the front door and the four teens were saying good bye. James and Amy had red eyes, while Jane and Adam had held onto their tears. James pulled Lily into a tight hug.

"Lils you can stay, you don't have to go."

"No." She whispered, "Its better if I go. I'll see you at school, I mean you'll be back before school starts won't you?"

James nodded, "His funeral will be in two days, then I'll be back."

Lily leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips, "Miss you James."

"I'll miss you too Lils."

They broke apart and Amy threw her arms round Lily's waist, "Are you going to come back?"

Lily looked at James and he smiled slightly, "Of course I am Amy. I'll come back when ever I can."

Adam shook her hand and said that it had been nice to meet her and Jane hug her gently and said that she was welcome in the house at any time. After Sirius, Remus and Marigold had also said their good byes, Adam took out his wand and waved them at the cases, which promptly disappeared. One final round of hugs and hand shakes and the four teens walked out the front door and down the drive, they got to the gates, Remus and Lily took hold of the other two's arms and with a _pop_ they disaparated.


	20. Sirius Homework

AN/ Hey guys, heres the next chapter. I'm not sure if I'll be able to put another one up soon as my internet is going a bit funny. Anyway I'll try my hardest and enjoy the chapter. :)

Sirius Homework

It was late by the time the four Gryffindors got back to school, the walk up from the village had been cold and they went straight to the kitchens to get some hot chocolate. After warming up they went to find Professor Dumbledore, so that they could inform him of their arrival.

"He probably already knows we're here." Sirius muttered, as they trampled along the dark corridors. They arrived at the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to his office.

"Silver sugar bells." Lily spoke directly to the gargoyle, which stepped aside and allowed them to pass.

"Come in!" the voice called when they knocked on the door. The group entered and found themselves looking at not only Professor Dumbledore but also Professor McGonigall. Dumbledore smiled when he saw then.

"Finally, I wondered when you four would turn up. Where did you go?"

"The Kitchens. We were cold after the walk."

Dumbledore nodded, "Well that is understandable. Now you may all go...except you Miss Evans."

Lily remained where she was while the others left. As soon as the door closed Dumbledore looked Lily in the face.

"Miss Evens, I trust you know who was responsible for killing Mrs Potter's father."

Lily nodded, "Yes, Sirius's cousin and father; they're Death Eaters as are his entire family."

"Indeed, indeed. But that is not what I want to speak to you about. You must be able to see that Tom Riddle is getting stronger and has more and more follo-"

"Excuse me sir, but Tom Riddle, is he Voldermort?"

"Yes Miss Evans he is. Anyway as I was saying he is gaining more followers and he will be trying to recruit them in school. I want you and Mr Potter, when he returns, to speak to the prefects about it and keep a look out for any students talking about him."

"What do we do if they are talking about him? Try to change there mind?"

"No, take there names and give them to me. I will speak to them and see if they are actually thinking of becoming a member."

Lily nodded, "James and I can do that Professor."

"Good, now you must be tired. Go back to your common room, rest and get some sleep. You may go."

Lily nodded and left. At the bottom of the stairs she found Remus waiting for her. She smiled at him and together they made their way to the Gryffindor common room. The room was almost empty Sirius and Marigold were sitting in the arm chairs by the fire. Marigold looked up as they came in.

"Are you staying down here?"

"No." Lily shook her head, "I'm going up to our room."

"I'll join you. Night Sirius. Night Remus. See you guys in the morning."

"Night Goldie!"

* * *

"LILY! MARIGOLD! I thought you were coming back today." Mary stared at her friends, across the room. She had already been in bed the night before when they went up, and hadn't woken up.

"Yeah, I know, but something happened so we came back yesterday."

"What happened?"

But neither Lily nor Marigold would tell her. Sirius and Remus were still asleep when the girls got down stairs so they decided to go down to breakfast. Lily saw Dennis sitting at his table and quickly sat down at her own. There was a newspaper lying on the table, Mary picked it up and scanned the front pages.

"Hey guys, there's something in here about James' family."

"What!" Lily grabbed the paper from her friend. Her eyes immediately found the section; it was done in big black letters.

**POTTER FAMILY TARGETED AGAIN **

_Yesterday Mr Albert Jenkins, 78, Ex-Auror was found dead at his house in Sandwich. Mr Jenkins was the father of Mrs Jane Potter, 46. He was last seen alive by his daughter and her husband, Mr Adam Potter, the day before, when he attended a New Years Eve party at their home, near Talcombe. Mr Jenkins was one of the best Aurors across the wizarding world. He was mostly know from his involvement and assistants with catching Samuel Rosier and Maria Clayton, two of the most feared Death Eaters. It is thought that he was killed shortly after he arrived back home, his neighbour reported that he had seen a green flash of light, emanating from the windows. Two people were seen leaving the house. Both of them have been recognised, one of them, a woman was Bellatrix Black and the other was Oltem Black, both of whom are associated with the the man who calls himself Lord Voldermort. If anyone knows the whereabouts of these two people they are to notify the Aurors office as soon as possible. Mr Jenkins funeral will take place today at his home in Sandwich. It is a private affair but if anyone wishes to send flowers they are welcome to._

Lily stared at Marigold, "How did they find that out? It was supposed to be kept as quiet as possible. Yet the day after its all over the news."

"You knew about this?" Mary asked.

"Oh yes, we found out yesterday. That's why we came back early. James is still at home, but he should be back before school starts."

"Wow, poor James. But what does it mean with the title? 'Potter Family Targeted Again'?"

"Oh Adam's brother and his family were killed the year before we joined Hogwarts, by Death Eaters."

"Really? I didn't hear about that. Merlin, the Potter family must really be down."

"Here's a hint Mary. When James comes back don't mention it to him."

"Don't worry Lily I won't. Oh heads up. Hodgeson alert! Hodgeson alert!"

Lily and Marigold glanced around just as Dennis came to a stop beside their table.

"Hi Lily. Um so I heard you went to Potters house for New Year?"

"Yes I did. Is there a problem with that?"

"Well no not really, but I er I wanted to ask you to come to mine."

"Oh sorry Dennis, but James asked me on Christmas day, so I said yes."

"Well that's okay. I was wondering whether you would like to come to Hogsmead today?"

"Like on a date?" Lily questioned.

"Yes, on a date. We can have a drink and then go round the shops if you want."

"Well er-"

"Hodgeson!" A voice barked, and Sirius strode up and came to a stop in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

"Um well this is my school Black. I do go here, no matter what you and you stupid friends think."

"I didn't mean in this school I meant what are you doing here at the Gryffindor table when your table is over there?"

"I came to ask Lily something."

"Which was what?"

"None of your business Black."

"Lily-Petal what did he want?"

"He asked me out. But Sirius don't do anything, just leave it. Dennis I'm sorry but I can't come out today or any other day in fact. I have too much homework."

Dennis nodded slowly, "Never mind, maybe another time?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah maybe."

Smiling Dennis walked away and Sirius sat down glaring at Lily.

"Your leading him on Lily-Petal. If he asks you again when Prongs is here, I would hate to be him."

"Why would-"

"Come on Lily, Mary. I need to do some work." Marigold jumped up interrupting Mary. Lily got up too, and waited for Marigold as she kissed Sirius good morning. Mary reluctantly stood and then followed her friends out the room.

* * *

"Oh Merlin, why do I have all this work to do? I'm not going to get it finished in time."

Marigold laughed. Sirius had been complaining since he had returned to the common room, and had actually not managed to complete anything.

"One Charms essay, 10 inches long, two Potions essays, each 7 inch long and three Defence Against the Dark Arts essays, 7½ inches long. This is just mad."

"You forgot your Transfiguration essays," Lily said, looking up from her own. "they have to be 11 inches long."

Sirius groaned, "Trust McGonigall to set us the most amount of work."

"Aww poor Sirius. Maybe this will teach you to do some of your work before the holidays."

"What do you mean, 'do some of my work before the holidays'?"

"Well at least three of those essays were set about two weeks _before_ the holidays, to be handed in the week before the holidays. I don't know how you managed to get away with it for so long."

"Well Donny this is me, we're talking about, and you know that I'm amazing."

"Ha, yeah right Black." Mary scoffed, throwing one of her books at him. Sirius glared at her and threw it back. Soon they were throwing pillows and all sorts at each other.

"Merlin! Black, Mary stop making so much noise, some of us actually want to work." Lily yelled as a badly aimed pillow hit her in the face.

"Sirius, I would do some of your work, other wise you'll be complaining about it even more later."

"Do I have to Goldie?"

"Yes, Sirius you do." Marigold stared at her boyfriend sternly, until he sat down and pulled out a book. He sat there for about five minutes then, sighed dramatically, slammed his book shut and left the room, muttering under his breath. He returned shortly with a plate full of chocolate biscuits, fetched the book Lily had given him for Christmas from the dorm and sat down again. Then there was silence, while everyone worked. By the time lunch came, all of the seventh years, with the exception of Sirius, had finished most of their work. After lunch they went back to work, Sirius however slipped off to Hogsmead and visited the joke shop for supplies involving a new trick that he wanted to try out. He came back grinning madly, with three big plastic bags in his hands.

"Who wants to see it? Moony you coming? I thought we'd play it when Prongs gets back to cheer him up."

"All right Padfoot. I'll come, but lets leave the girls out. It can be a surprise for them too."

"Okay." said Sirius happily and bounced up the stairs. Marigold glanced at Lily and Mary.

"Do you want to find out what they're doing?"

"Of course we do!" Mary cried. "Lets go see if we can find out."

But the boys had been serious about not letting the girls in and had put protective charms round their room that not even Lily could break, though she tried for several minutes. In the end they gave up and returned to the common room. The boys emerged to accompany the girls to dinner, then rushed back, as soon as politeness would allow.

"Do you think Sirius got this idea from your book Lily?" Marigold asked breaking the silence that the girls had been sitting in.

"Defiantly. Did you see the way he was pouring over it before lunch?" Mary shook her head, "I can't wait to see what they're doing."

"Me either. Hey Lils, when's James coming back?"

"Err, not sure maybe tomorrow? It depends on what his parents want him to do I think. He didn't really tell me much, you might get more out of Sirius."

"Wait, I think I'm missing something here. Marigold why do you keep on talking as if Lily knows everything about James?"

Marigold sighed, and looked at Lily, "I'm not telling her."

Lily groaned, "Okay Mary, basically James and I are now together."

"Really? Finally! I was wondering when it would happen. How long for?"

"Err I think its been three days." She looked at Marigold then nodded, "Yeah, three days. He asked me out the day we went there...I think. Wait no. it must have been longer then that." she thought for a second, counting up the days on her fingers and whispering what they had done. Finally she looked at them. "Four. Its been four days."

Marigold started to clap, "Well done, well done indeed, Lily. You've finally managed to work out how long you have been with James." sarcasm was heavy in her voice, but her eyes sparkled. Lily burst out laughing as did Mary and Marigold. They were still laughing when the boys came down to join them.

"Whats so funny?" Sirius asked.

The girls didn't answer.

"Goldie, what are you laughing at? Is it me? Did I forget to put my clothes back on?"

At this comment the girls stopped and quickly turned to look at him.

Sirius smirked, "Ha, got you there. Come on Goldie, you can tell me what you were finding so funny, while we go find a place to have some private time."

"Okay," Marigold's voice was incredibly high as she fought to keep her laughter under control. The two disappeared through the Portrait hole, and Remus flopped down on the sofa beside the girls.

"Wow, I'm tired. Sirius is way to energetic for a seventeen year old boy."

"Well hopefully he'll use up his energy on Marigold." Mary said, throwing a piece of paper into the fire. By the time Sirius and Marigold returned it was late and the common room was empty after one last kiss they parted and went their separate ways. The girls were asleep when Marigold entered as she quickly got ready, hardly making a noise.

* * *

The next few days went by slowly, the Seventh years were all eagerly waiting for James to return. But he didn't show. After four days had passed, Lily refused to sit around the common room waiting, instead, she, Marigold and Mary spent the day in Hogsmead, with Remus. Remus was looking more and more ill as the days slipped by and Lily finally realised that the full moon was rapidly approaching. Looking it up on her Astronomy chart she saw that it fell the night before school started, which was in only a few days. James finally returned two days before school started, most of the students were back by now and as they all read the Daily Prophet, they all knew what had happened. He arrived late, Friday evening when only a handful of people where still in the common room. Ignoring them all he went straight to his dorm. Lily looked at Sirius.

"Do you think one of us should talk to him?"

"Yes. Why don't you go Lily-Petal. He wont listen to anyone else."

Lily got up and made her way to James' dorm. When she got there she found James sitting on his bed.

"James?" she whispered quietly.

James looked up, "Lily."

They stood there looking at one another for a minute, before James jumped up and pulled Lily into his arms.

"Lily. I've missed you so much. I would have come back sooner, but Amy wanted me to stay and so did my parents."

"That's okay. Your still not the same though are you?"

He shook his head, "No, I'll get over it eventually, but not yet, it still hurts too much."

Lily kissed him lightly on the lips, "Well at least you got away from Sirius for a while. He's been driving the rest of us crazy."

James laughed softly, "Hasn't he done his work yet?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Its the same every year Lils. He always leaves his work till the last minute. Just wait on Sunday evening he'll be running around, trying to get everything finished."

"Okay, I believe you. Now are you coming down or sulking up here."

"I'll come down."

Down in the common room, James was greeted back happily by the three Marauders. Remus' welcome was a little strained as he looked sicker than ever. No one spoke about his family, they just started talking about what they had done whilst James was away.

* * *

Saturday passed quickly and before anyone knew it, Sunday was upon them. Remus went into the hospital wing, to rest until the evening, when Madame Pomfrey would take him to the Womping Willow. James seemed like he was back to normal and all the Gryffindors were talking about how he and Lily were spending most of their time together. Sirius appeared, looking white from the dorm and he stared at his friends.

"Its Sunday." he stated.

"Yes, Black, well done." Mary said not looking up from what she was doing.

"School starts tomorrow."

"Really Sirius? We had no idea." Marigold stared at her boyfriend.

"But...but I haven't done any of my work."

"Thats your own fault."

Sirius turned to where Lily and James were sitting, talking in low voices.

"Prongs."

"What?"

"Its Sunday."

"I know Padfoot. School's tomorrow. Have you done your work?"

"School starts tomorrow."

"Padfoot, I just told you that."

"But I haven't done any work."

"We know that Pads, I just asked you if you had done it"

Sirius looked at them, then when they didn't say any more turned and walked towards the Portrait hole. Peter came in just as Sirius was about to leave, and the black haired boy grabbed his arm.

"Wormtail."

"Yes?"

"Its Sunday."

"What's wrong with Sunday?"

"School starts tomorrow."

Wormtail suddenly look relived, "Oh, I know, I thought that-"

"But I haven't done any work."

"Oh I er..."

"Wormtail, come over here and forget about Padfoot." James called out. Thankfully Peter scuttled over to them, as Sirius left. Ten minutes later he returned, with Madame Pomfrey behind him. The nurse turned to James.

"Mr Potter, please try and keep you friend under control. I will not have him wondering into the Hospital Wing, and talking to Patients about work he has yet to do."

"Poppy."

"What is it Mr Black?"

"Its Sunday."

"Mr Black if you-"

"School starts tomorrow."

"Right Mr Black you can have-"

"But I haven't done any work."

Madame Pomfrey shook her head, and left. Sirius stared after her, then started towards a group of sixth years, but Lily grabbed him.

"Oh no you don't Black. Your going to sit right here until you have done your work."

"Lily-Petal."

"What?"

"Its Sunday."

"If you say that one more time Black I will-"

"School starts to-"

Sirius didn't get to finish his sentence as Lily slapped him hard across the face. His hand flew up to his cheek.

"Oww. Lily-Petal that hurt."

"Are you back to your senses now Black? Or do I need to hit you again?"

Sirius' eyes widened, "No I think I'll go do my work."

He jumped up and fled upstairs to the dorm. James laughed.

"Well I never thought that anyone would be able to scare Sirius Black into doing his work. Well done Lils."

Lily grinned, "That felt so good. Oh sorry for hitting your boyfriend Mari."

"That's all right, he deserved it." the blonde girl said shaking her mass of curls out of her face.

Sirius reappeared with a pile of books and eyeing Lily, sat down quickly and started on his work. By the evening Sirius only had two more essays to write for Charms and Potions. He moaned and complained over then so much that Lily and James pretended they had rounds to do, and Marigold, Alice and Mary said they needed to get some books from the Library. Only Peter stayed in the common room with Sirius, as he worked. All five returned after an hour and found Sirius shouting at Peter.

"I spent all day on those essays! All day Wormtail. All bloody day! And you just threw them in the fire. MERLIN I could kill you!"

"Padfoot, I'm sorry I didn't mean to, I just picked them up with the newspaper. I-"

"ALL BLOODY DAY!"

"Sirius, what the hell is going on?" Lily asked staring at the red faced boy. He turned quickly to face Lily.

"What's going on? What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on. Wormtail just threw all my essays in the fire! ALL OF THEM LILY-PETAL!"

Alice slipped over to the extinguished fire, and started to fish out pieces of parchment, while Marigold tried to calm Sirius down, and James went to comfort Peter, who was nearly in tears. Lily joined Alice and Mary just sat down and pulled out a book. Once Lily and Alice had collected all the parchment they could find, they sat down and started to see if they could rescue any of it. Marigold and Sirius had vanished, and James was telling Peter a really cheesy joke.

"Well, that's five pages I've managed to clean." Alice leaned back against the chair, "What about you Lily?"

"Um I've got about seven, but there are still more here." she passed Alice a few and placed the rest on the table. Ten minutes later, the girls had, all in all, managed to salvage seventeen pages of Sirius' work. The boy had come back down, a few minutes earlier and had watched Lily and Alice very closely.

"Okay Sirius. How many pages did you write?"

"Er about twenty I think? I still have one more to write."

"Well then you have at least three pages to rewrite, as we couldn't rescue them. Okay?"

"Oh Lily-Petal, Shorty I could kiss you!"

"Well your not going to kiss either of them Padfoot," said James coming up behind them, "Because both of them are taken. Oh Lily I think I need some help looking for a sock I misplaced yesterday."

"Yesterday really? You've only just got back."

"Please Lils? I've looked everywhere. Pllllleeeeaaasseeeeee?"

Lily sighed, "All right, James. Lets go find your bloody sock."

They left and Sirius took Lily's vacated seat to sort out his essays. He worked solidly until Lily and James reappeared at lunchtime. Lily's hair was slightly messed up and James' jumper was asquew. Sirius raised her eyebrows, "I see you found your sock then Prongs. Did you have fun?"

Lily blushed, but James grinned, "Yeah, we did find the sock, it was under your bed."

"You know what I mean Prongs."

"Yes I do Pads, but nothing happened."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Black shut up." Lily said sweetly, grinning at him. Lunch passed quickly and soon the Gryffindors back to the common room. Marigold challenged Lily to a game of chess and James sat behind Lily whispering helpful moves.

"Oi Potter, stop helping Lily. She can win without cheating."

"Sorry Goldie, but I'm not complaining about the fact that Sirius is sitting behind me and is undoubtedly helping you."

Marigold stared at him, then lifted her gaze and addressed her boyfriend, "Your useless at hiding."

Sirius grinned at her as he walked passed Lily and James, "Its not my fault that you can't read my signals."

"Oh I can read your signals Black, trust me."

Marigold grinned, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Okay Black, Mari. We don't need to know about your private life. Now I'm up for another snowball fight, who's with me?"

"I'll come." James stood up at once, "Come on guys, it will be the last snowball fight that we ever have here."

After James had said that, none of them could refuse, so the Gryffindors trampled outside. They decided that once again they would do boys vs girls. Frank had joined the three Marauders, so that it was four against four. It was a furious battle, which the girls yet again managed to win. Sirius complained heavily, as they went back in. they went straight up to the common room to change before going back to the great hall for dinner. James, Sirius and Peter excused themselves early that evening, Lily frowned at James.

"Why? Were are you going?"

"Bed Lils we're tired, and school starts tomorrow."

"Oh okay, well good night."

James stood there staring at his girlfriend, "What don't I even get a kiss?"

Lily turned to look at him, "Do you want one?"

"Um, yes, I do actually."

Lily grinned, then stood up and kissed him, "There you happy now?"

"Yes." he whispered holding her close, "Incredibly happy."

They parted and Lily sat back down, whilst James followed his friends upstairs. Up in their dorm Sirius turned to James.

"Can we go yet?"

James shook his head, "No, I'm worried about Lily. What if she comes up here and none of us are here, what's she going to think?"

"Relax Prongs. Is the coast clear?"

James glanced down at the Marauders Map, and sighed, "Yes, Filch is in the dungeons, and Peeves in the Trophy Room."

"Good then lets go," Sirius gabbed the invisibility cloak from James' bed and waited for the other two to join him, then they slowly made their way down stairs, through the common room and out the portrait hole. Once they were in the corridor, Peter vanished and James and Sirius continued down to the entrance hall. The moon was shining bright in the sky as James and Sirius came to the Whomping Willow. A rat scuttled past them and managing to avoid the trees deadly swinging branches, pressed its front two paws to a knob on the trunk, the tree froze and the boys disappeared inside.

"Come on," James whispered to Sirius dropping the cloak in a corner. "Moony will be waiting."

Sirius nodded, and the next instant a huge shaggy black dog had taken his place. The dog looked towards James, and saw that instead of the tall handsome Quiddich player, a magnificent stag, stood in his place. The rat squeaked loudly from the floor and the animal turned, staring to make their way though the passage to their little werewolf friend.


	21. An Act of Love

AN/ Hey Guys. As a one off this chapter is for TWHATT18, and I hope you enjoy it as you gave us the idea behind it when you reviewed chapter 10, and by saying that I have now probably given away what happens so I will stop talking and you can get on with the story. Enjoy. :)

An Act of Love

James stared unseeing at Professor Slughorn. For some reason the Potions teacher had decided to give them a lecture on their NEWTs and how well they had to do. He had been talking for a whole hour and even Lily seemed to have stopped listening. James suppressed a yawn, and glanced at Sirius. The black haired boy looked just as tired as his friend, Peter was in fact asleep at his desk and snoring quietly. Remus had been energetic last night and James and Sirius had used up loads of energy trying to stop him going into Hogsmead. Lily glanced towards her boyfriend and grinned, she nudged Marigold and pointed at them, the blond giggled.

"They were definitely up to something last night." she whispered, and Lily nodded.

The bell rang and the whole class jumped. Professor Slughorn looked at them mournfully, "I didn't even get half way though what I wanted to say. Oh well there's always tomorrows lesson." He beamed at them, and his students groaned as they left. James waited for Lily to get out the classroom, before going on to lunch.

"Sirius I beg you, is there anyway you can stop us from having that lesson tomorrow?" Lily asked as they sat down.

Sirius stared at her, "You want me to get you out of Potions? You, Lily Evans?"

"Yes, Sirius I do. I'm not the only one who wants to get out of it, the rest of the class does as well."

Sirius beamed, "Well I do have quite a good trick, but as it happens Lily-Petal, we wont be needing it."

"And why is that?"

"Because, tomorrow there's a Quiddich match."

Marigold's head shot up, "Really. Who's playing? Oh Merlin don't say its Gryffindor!"

Sirius shook his head, "No, its not. Don't panic Goldie. Its Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw, and who ever wins that game plays against Slytherin. And the winner of that game will play us for the cup. Right Prongs?"

"Right Pads." James answered his friend, "Oh Goldie, we're going to have a practice after school today and tomorrow. Try and tell everyone you can."

Marigold nodded, "What time do we have to be on the pitch?"

"Six thirty."

"Great, Lily are you going to come and watch?"

"Err, maybe. Its a bit cold, and I'll be sitting for all of it."

"Well why don't you fly round with us?" James asked. "You wont disturb the practice and you might be able to help."

"I don't really-"

"Oh come on Lily-Petal! I'll come too." Sirius cried throwing an arm around her.

James stared at Sirius, "Err Padfoot, I don't really think tha-"

"Your letting Lily-Petal come, so I want to come too."

"Padfoot, I don't want-"

James stopped as Sirius stood up on the table, and pulled out his wand. He grinned at James, pointed his wand at the banners hanging from the ceiling and whispered a spell. Pink sparks flew out his wand, shooting into the air. As they hit them the banners changed. They became purple and sliver writing appeared on it. Students and teachers craned their necks, to see what was written on them. James glared at Sirius;he knew exactly what was on the banners.

"I'm gonna kill you Padfoot!" James yelled, and launched himself over the table at his best friend. The black haired boy turned and fled the hall with James following. Lily looked up to see what James was so angry about and felt her cheeks burn bright red. The banner read: _For the information of all staff and students, the very respectable Head Girl Lily Evans is now going out with our very __irresponsible Head Boy James Potter. _ How Sirius had managed to get all those letters on the banners was beside Lily. She stood up, turning towards Marigold.

"Mari, I hope you don't mind if I join James with killing your boyfriend."

"Yes Lily I d-" she stopped, Lily had rushed from the room and she was talking to thin air. She cursed then followed her friend. She caught Lily up in the grounds. She was standing beside the big tree that the Marauders always sat by.

"Hey Lily I-"

"Shut up!" Lily hissed grabbing Marigold's arm, and pulling her closer to the tree. Lily peeked round the trunk then slipped back. Curious Marigold also looked round. James and Sirius were standing a few meters away from them talking in raised voices.

"Prongs you have to understand."

"I do Padfoot. You know I do."

"But its my fault that-"

"How could you!" a yell came from behind the girls and they turned. Severus Snape was striding towards them, the look on his face frightened Lily, and she backed up against the tree.

"You promised me Lily! You promised me!" Severus pulled out his wand and pointed it at Lily. Lily's eyes were wide with fear and Marigold face was pale.

"Drop your wand Snivelus." James and Sirius appeared from behind the tree, both of their wands were trained on Severus.

"Why should I Potter? You took my best friend away from me."

"I never took her away. You lost her when you called her a Mudblood."

"But that was because of you."

"No it wasn't. It was you Snivelus. You had the choice of what to do and you hurt her with it."

Severus' glared deepened and his wand swung away from Lily towards James and a jet of blue light shot out of it.

"NO!" Lily yelled and suddenly her muscles unfroze and she leaped in front of James. The spell hit her in the chest and she crumpled immediately to the floor, unconscious.

"LILY!" Marigold stared at her friend on the floor. James was kneeling beside her, and Sirius was attacking Severus.

"Lily! Lily can you hear me?" James asked, staring at her. When there was no reply he scooped her up in his arms and headed to the school.

"Where are you taking her?" Severus asked escaping from Sirius' grasp.

James spun on his heel, "I am taking her to the Hospital Wing., and your coming to. Sirius."

Sirius nodded, picked Marigold up from the floor where she had fallen and walked behind Severus and James up to Madame Pomfrey. The matron was astonished when the group trampled in. She immediately took Lily out of James' arms and into a cubical, refusing to let anyone in. The teenagers had only been sitting there for a few minutes when the doors opened and Professor Dumbledore, Professor Slughorn and Professor McGonigal came in. Professor McGonigal went straight into the cubical with Lily and Madame Pomfrey. The other two teachers turned to James and the others. Marigold was still in Sirius' arms, Severus was looking towards the curtain and James was practically tearing his hair out.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked. No one answered him and he hadn't expected them too. He asked again this time speaking directly to James.

"James what happened?"

James stopped the pacing that he had also started, "Snivelus attacked Lily."

"Why did he attack Miss Evans?"

"Because she going out with me, and he didn't like it."

Dumbledore turned to Severus, "Is this true Mr Snape?"

Severus nodded slightly, "Yes, but it wasn't Lily I was aiming for, it was Potter."

"Why Mr Snape? Why would you want to attack the head boy?"

"Because he took Lily from me. He took my best friend."

"I didn't take her. She refused to talk to you after-"

"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore thundered, "Mr Snape you will go to my office as will you Mr Potter."

"No Sir. I'm sorry Professor, but I'm going to stay here. I'm not leaving Lily."

Dumbledore looked at James for a long time, before he nodded slowly, "Very well. Mr Potter you may stay here. Mr Black please let go of Miss Lucas and go to your lessons. I will want a word with you later, but I will send for you."

Dumbledore turned and left with Professor Slughorn following. Sirius laid Marigold on a bed and turned to James.

"Do you want to to wait here Prongs?"

James sighed, "I would love you to Padfoot, but you'd better get to class. Dumbledore will be expecting you to be at lessons."

Sirius watched James for a minute before leaving the room. Ten minutes later he returned with a smile on his face.

"Prongs I can stay here till Dumbledore sends for me." he announced before going over and sitting beside Marigold. The blond haired girl's eyes started to flutter, and she suddenly sat up.

"Where's Lily?" she looked round frantically and the curtain around Lily's bed was pulled aside. Madame Pomfrey appeared and glared at the teens, "Mr Black, Mr Potter what are you still doing here?"  
"Professor Dumbledore gave us permission to wait."

The Nurse pursed her lips then turned to Marigold, "Ah Miss Lucas. How are you feeling? Better?"

Marigold nodded, "Yes, but please Madame Pomfrey hows Lily?"

"Miss Evans is the same as she was when she came in. We have to know what spell she was hit with to cure her. Do any of you know?"

The teens shook their heads, then Marigold spoke, "Oh wait. It was blue. The spell was blue. Does that help?"

Madame Pomfrey nodded, "A bit." she pulled her wand out and summoned a patronas. She whispered to it quietly then, with a flick of her wand sent it out the room. Then without another word she returned behind the curtain. A couple of minutes later wisps of silver floated through the crack in the door and infused through the miniature holes in the fabric of the curtain. James had noticed the wisps and moved closer to the curtain, trying to hear what was the patonas said. Dumbledore's voice emanated slightly muffled, "...he said that it was spell from one of his text books. Its a spell called-"

The curtain was pulled aside and James found himself staring at Professor McGonigal. The woman stared down at James, "What are you doing Mr Potter?"

"Professor I just want to see her. Please let me see her."

The teacher shook her head, "I'm sorry Mr Potter, but Miss Evans cannot be seen by anybody."

James opened his mouth ready to argue but a gasp came from the bed, and quickly sidestepped his teacher. Lily was still unconscious, but Madame Pomfrey was was staring at a book in her hands in shock.

"Minerva." she whispered. "Minerva, I don't know what I can do."

Professor McGonigal hurried to the matrons side, and looked at the book. She paled slightly, then summoned her patronas, and sent it off.

"What's wrong with her?" James asked. He went to their sides and looked at the book. He stared at it for a few seconds not able to understand anything. The page was a mess of writing and diagrams. James didn't know which part they were looking at, but it didn't matter, all the spells on those two pages were dangerous and potentially life-threatening. He glanced at Professor McGonial and Madame Pomfrey, and saw that their expressions mirrored what he felt.

"James, could you please give us a minute?" Professor McGonigal asked him quietly after a look had passed between her and Madame Pomfrey. James left and found that Sirius was now sitting beside Marigold and that Remus had come out of his cubical to see what was going on. They looked up as James came out.

"Prongs! How is she?"

"Not good. Madame Pomfrey says she doesn't know what to do. I think they might move her to St Mungo's."

"Woah, that bad?"

James nodded and sat down on the bed next to them, his head in his hands.

"Do they know what spell was used?" Remus asked quietly.

Again James nodded, "Yes but I don't. The page was to complicated and each spell was more dangerous than the next."

They sat there in silence until the curtains around Lily's bed moved and Professor McGonial came out. She looked at the group of teens sitting on the beds and sighed, "Madame Pomfrey cannot do anything for Lily here. She is being sent to St Mungo's as soon as possible."

"Can we see her?" Marigold asked.

"Yes, if you wish, but not for long."

The group jumped up and rushed into the cubical.

* * *

Dumbledore tapped his fingers slowly on the desk, his eyes focused on Severus Snape. The boy was looking anywhere but at Dumbledore, and the headmaster could see that he really didn't want to be there.

"Do you know what you've done Mr Snape?"

Severus finally looked at him, then nodded, "Yes Professor. I do."

"Why did you do it?"

"Because Potter took Lily away from me."

"Why attack Lily then? Why not Mr Potter?"

"I was aiming for him, but Lily got in the way. Professor I didn't even want to hit Potter, just scare him. I wanted to hit the tree behind him."

"I-" Dumbledore stopped as a patronas slipped into the room. The wisps of silver came together and formed a sparrow and Madame Pomfrey's voice emanated, "Albus, I need to know what spell she was hit with. There are no marks on her body, but the spell was not a normal one. I must know."

The sparrow dissolved into the air and Dumbledore turned to Severus, "You heard what Madame Pomfrey said. They need to know. What spell did you use?"

Snape shook his head, "I can't tell you. I don't think there's a cure." tears suddenly started falling down his face as he spoke. "I don't think there's a cure. Oh Merlin I've killed her. I killed Lily!"

Dumbledore said nothing. He just waited till Snape had run out of tears, before he spoke again.

"Severus, we need to know. There might be a cure, and if Madame Pomfrey can't find it, then Lily will go to St Mungo's. She could die, but not if you tell me what the spell was."

Finally Severus spoke, his voice so quiet it was barely a whisper, "Its a spell from one of the books I borrowed from the Library. The book's called _A Wizards Guide to Making New Spells_. It has all the new spells that had been invented when it was made."

"When was that?"

"1743."

"What page was it on?"

"I don't know, but I marked it down. I folded one of the corners."

"Is it in your dorm?"

Snape nodded, and Dumbledore summoned up his own patronas. He sent it off with out even seeming to speak to it. They waited in silence until Severus spoke, "Professor what's going to happen to me? Will I be expelled?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I don't know. What you did was very dangerous and Miss Evans could still die. However it is also my fault for having that book in the Library in the first place. I think I will leave it up to Professor Slughorn to punish you."

Severus nodded, "Will my Mother be told?"

"Yes, she will. Professor Slughorn will send her a letter today. Now go back to your class."

Severus nodded, stood and made his way to the door. "Oh and Mr Snape." he turned. "I should find some new friends if I were you. Not good people your with."

"Yes Professor."

He had just reached the door, when another patronas came in. This time it morphed into a cat.

"Poppy can't do anything for her. We need to send her to St Mungo's. The sooner the better."

Severus froze, _no, _ he thought, _no. Lily can't die, she just can't. What can I do? Should I go to her? No, no Potter and Black would never let me get close enough. But I can save her! I know the spell!_With that thought Severus raced off to the Hospital Wing. He got there just as Professor McGonial was leaving. She stared at Severus with frosty eyes, but let him pass. When he entered he saw that there was only one bed that had curtains around it and voices could be heard behind them. Severus took a deep breath and pulled the material aside. At once Sirius jumped up and stood in front of Lily, trying to block her from view.

"What are you doing here Snivelus?" he hissed

"I wanted to see her. I can help her, I know what to do to cure her."

"Why should we trust you? You attacked Lily."

"No, I was going for Potter. But that doesn't matter, I know a spell that can help her."

"You haven't answered my question. Why should we trust you?" Sirius took a step towards him and Severus took one back.

"I would never hurt Lily. I-"

"But you have." Marigold stood up suddenly, "You have. Not physically until now but you hurt her when you called her a Mudblood. That hurt her the most and you know it."

"Yes, I know but I can help her, I'm sure I can. Please!"

"Why don't you tell Madame Pomfrey that you can help her then." Marigold turned away from him, back to Lily. Severus noticed James sitting beside the bed, holding Lily's hand tightly.

"Because I invented the spell, and I don't want to tell her about it."

"What if I don't trus-"

"Pads let him try." James spoke for the first time. He raised his head, "At least we have tried to help her before she goes."

Sirius nodded, and stepped aside. Severus rushed to the bed, pulling out his wand as he went. He stood by the bed for a few seconds whispering a spell under his breath. Suddenly his hand dropped to his side, and he stepped back.

"Its not working." He muttered, "I can't do anything. Sorry."

Severus turned away from them and walked towards the door. Nobody tried to stop him, they just watched him till he was gone. When he had Sirius turned to James, "Why did you do that Prongs? He could have cast another spell on her. He could have-"

"No Padfoot, he wouldn't." James said shortly.

"And what makes you say that Prongs? Huh what?"

"Snivelus wouldn't hurt Lily because he loves her."

The Gryffindors were stunned into silence and they stared at James. Finally Marigold spoke, "How in the name of saints did you work that out?"

"Have you ever seen his patronas? Its a doe and Goldie, you told me that Lily's was also a doe." he shrugged, "Most people might be able to work it out...if they saw his patronas."

Footsteps sounded on the floor and Madame Pomfrey appeared, "Right you all have to leave now. Miss Evans is being moved to St Mungo's."

"Can we visit her there?" Remus asked.

Madame Pomfrey stared at him, "Mr Lupin, what are you doing out of your bed?"

"Madame Pomfrey please just answer my question. Can we visit her there?"

The Matron sighed, "You'll have to ask Professor Dumbledore, I can't give you permission to leave the school grounds. Now leave."

She pointed towards the door, and the teens said a quick goodbye to Lily before they left. As they were leaving, two men dresses in white robes entered. Sirius clapped James on the back, "Don't worry mate, she'll be okay."

James nodded, "I know. Come on we'd better tell Shorty and Donny."


	22. Waiting On Tiptoes

AN/ Hey guys I hope your all enjoying your summer holidays, even if the whether isn't quite up to it. Anyway I'm now going away for two weeks and there is a possibility that where I am going there's no internet. If that is the case there won't be a chapter up until I get back, but fingers crossed that there will be internet. :)

Waiting On Tiptoes

News about Lily spread through the school like wild fire. Alice and Mary were upset that they weren't allowed to see her before she had been taken away, and none of them had been allowed to see her at St Mungo's. James was getting more and more anxious every day, and nobody could help him. If they tried he would snap at them. In the end Sirius wrote to Jane and asked her to visit Lily, and send a letter back to them. She did. James read the letter four times, before letting the others read it. According to Jane, Lily was still unconscious, but the medics were working on the cure. She wrote that they had found out how it cure her, but the spell needed to be performed with perfection for complete recovery. She hadn't written more than that, and James still wasn't comforted. Finally Dumbledore gave him and one other person to go see her. After a lot of arguing between Marigold, Mary and Alice, it was decided that Marigold should go. Everyone knew that she was Lily's best friend. So one week after Lily had first been taken, Marigold and James went down to London, to St Mungo's. They spoke to the receptionist who told them that Lily was in intensive care, on the fourth floor. It was a long walk up to the fourth floor, and by the time they got there both were out of breath. After speaking to another nurse they found out what room Lily was sleeping in. They had almost reached the room, when someone called out Marigold name.

"Marigold! Marigold is that you?"

Marigold turned around and saw Mrs Evans at the end of the corridor. "Sara? Yes its me."

Mrs Evans hurried over and pulled Marigold into a hug, "Have you come to see Lily?"

"Yes, we would have been here sooner, but Dumbledore only just gave us permission to come."

"Us?"

"Oh, yes sorry. Sara this is James Potter Head Boy. James this is Mrs Evans, Lily's mum."

James held a hand out, "It's nice to meet you Mrs Evans."

Sara Evans took it, "Its nice to meet you to. I er I didn't know that you and Lily were friends."

"Well we weren't really before this term."

"Ahh I see." she turned back to Marigold. "Were are Alice and Mary?"

"They had to stay at school. Dumbledore only allowed James and one other person to come."

"So..." Mrs Evans stopped, unsure of how to get her point across.

James stepped in, "Mrs Evans, I thought that Lily would have told you, but obviously she hasn't. Lily and I have been together since New Years."

Mrs Evans stared at James, "Lily's going out with you?"

James nodded, "Yes, Mrs Evans."

There was silence for a few minutes, "Ah, oh well its nice that the two of you are getting along at last. This is her room." Mrs Evans stopped outside a white door. "You two go in already. I need to go find my husband. He's probably got lost somewhere." she smiled briefly at them, then left.

Marigold grabbed James' arm, "Why did you say that to her?"

"What? About me and Lily?"

"Yes, she doesn't need to know that her daughters got a boyfriend, while she's ill."

"Oh calm down Goldie. Its not my fault that Lily didn't tell her. Now are we going in or not?"

Marigold sighed and pushed the door open. The room was painted white and there was one bed in the corner with a wardrobe and basin standing opposite. Lily was lying in the bed, her long red hair shining out against the white. She looked small and pale, like the bedclothes were swamping her. James walked slowly to her side and sat down on the bed. He took her hand and started whispering quietly to her. Marigold remained by the door, watching him. She was still there when Mrs Evans appeared with Mr Evans. Marigold put a finger to her lips and pointed. Sara had told her husband about Lily and James, so he wasn't surprised to see him. The three of them stood there until Marigold could finally wait no longer. As she came beside James, he turned to look at her, a small smile on his face. Marigold leaned against him gently and James gave her a one armed hug. Mr Evans was about to speak when the door burst open and Jane came in. She didn't even notice Mr and Mrs Evans, she only had eyes for her son.

"James!"

James spun, "Mum. What are you doing here?"

"I've been here everyday since she first came in. Now why aren't you at school?"

"Err-"

"Excuse me." Mrs Evans came forwards, "But may I ask who you are?"

Jane stared at Lily's parents, then smiled quickly to cover up her shock, "Yes, sorry. I'm Jane Potter, um I assume you've met my son James?"

Mrs Evans nodded, "Yes I have."

"I work nearby and decided to pop in during my breaks. I met Lily at New Years, she and Marigold came to my house."

"Oh, well okay, um thank-you for coming to see Lily."

"That's all right." she turned, "James, I want a word with you. Come outside please."

"Oh Mum must-"

"Yes, James. You must. Come on."

James sighed, lifted Lily's hand to his lips and kissed it gently. At the same time his other hand drifted to her face and brushed back a frizzy lock. Then he stood up and followed his mother out the room. There was silence for several seconds, as Mr and Mrs Evans regarded Marigold and Lily.

"What happened to her Marigold." Mr Evans asked suddenly.

Marigold turned to look at them, "What do you mean?"

"Who did this to her? We want to know. All we were told is that she was attacked."

Marigold turned away again, she didn't want to tell them. The Evans family lived so close to Snivelus' mother. Finally Marigold whispered, "It was Snape. He found out about Lily and James and didn't like it."

Mrs Evans nodded, "Go on Marigold, go on."

And she did. Marigold told them everything she could remember and by the end Mrs Evans had sat down.

"She saved him." she whispered. "Lily saved him. She must like him a lot."

Marigold nodded, "She does like him. But she would have done the same for anyone of us. Not only James."

"Yes," Mrs Evans said softly, "she would have. Its just a shame it will take so long to cure her."

"But at least it has a cure." Marigold pointed out. "Some spells don't have one."

"Like what?" Mr Evans asked sharply.

"Err, well-"

The door banged open saving Marigold from answering. Jane and James came back in and James went straight to Lily. He glanced up at Marigold, "Anything happened?"

She shook her head, "I would have called you, and anyway not much can happen James."

He nodded slowly, "I suppose so."

Jane turned to look at Mr and Mrs Evans, "Are you staying somewhere nearby?"

Mr Evans shook her head, "No, we've come down from our house everyday."

"That must cost a lot."

"Yes it does, and there's never anywhere to park."

"Well may I offer you something, seeing as Lily saved James?"

"If you like." Mr Evans shrugged.

"Would you let my husband and I pick you up everyday and take you back in the evening? It doesn't cost us anything and we don't need parking spaces."

Mrs Evans looked at her husband, and then nodded, "That would be lovely. Thank-you."

Jane smiled, "Your welcome. James are you and Marigold going back to school tonight or are you staying another day?"

"Dumbledore gave us the weekend, so I guess we're staying here another day."

"Well then you better come home for tonight. Marigold you can come to is you want. Adam and I are on the late shift so Amy's staying at a friends. The house will be empty."

James shrugged, "Yeah, okay I'll come. Goldie you coming?"

"Sure, if its no problem to you Jane?"

"Its absolutely fine, Azzie and Quen will be there."

An owl suddenly flew into the room, with a note attached to its foot. It went straight to Jane, who took the note off and read it. Her mouth formed the shape of an o.

"Mum what's up?"

Jane looked at him, "Oh, um nothing, but er...look I have to go. Emergency at work. James you can get home can't you? Good. Uhh Mr and Mrs Evans, what time shall we pick you up in the morning?"

"Oh, um what ever time is best for you. When do you normally leave?"

"Oh, Sundays is about seven o'clock. So if its okay with you we'll be at your house at about one minute past seven."

"Yes, all right, but wont it take longer to get to our house? And you don't even know where it is."

"Don't worry. We'll be there at one minute past seven. Now I really have to go. See you tomorrow." Jane turned and with a pop, disappeared. Mr and Mrs Evans stared at the space that she had just been occupying.

"Where did she go?" Mr Evans asked.

"To her office." Marigold said, then seeing the confused look on their faces, started explaining apparating and dissaparating. They stayed there till almost nine, then they were kicked out by the nurse. Marigold gave Lily's parents a hug, before taking James' hand and turning on the spot. Mr and Mrs Evans watched as their daughter's best friend and boyfriend disappeared.

"What did we let our daughter get into Sara?" Mr Evans asked quietly.

* * *

"Why do I have to be here?"

James arrived outside Lily's room just in time to hear the question. He opened the door to find himself looking at a tall thin, brown haired girl.

"Shh, Petunia, don't be so loud."

"Its not like the freak can hear me. I can say what ever I want."

The door closed behind James with a bang, and the girl spun to face him, "Who the hell are you? Please tell me your not another one of those freaks."

James stared unsure about what to say, but luckily Mrs Evans stepped in, "Petunia, this is James, he goes to school with Lily."

"So he is a freak. I'm not staying here. I refuse, you can't force me to stay."

"No, we can't, but there is no way for you to get home, so your stuck here."

Petunia stared at her mother, then stomped over to a corner of the room. Mrs Evans looked at him, "Sorry about that James. How are you today?"

"Oh, I'm well, thank you. Have you seen Marigold?"

"Yes, she went to show my husband where the café is."

"Okay good. We have to go as soon as she come back."

"To school?"

"Yes."

"I thought that you were allowed to stay here for the day."

"We were, but then we realised that we have a lot of work waiting for us for Monday that we had neglected."

"That wasn't very clever." Petunia spoke from her corner.

James turned to glare at her and opened his mouth to give her a snide retort, when the door opened and Marigold came in with Mr Evans. Lily's dad had a look of extreme excitement on his face.

"Jane," he gasped, "you have to see the sweets they have in the shop. They have something called Fizzing Whizbees, and Liquorice Wands."

Marigold laughed, "That's only a small selection of sweets we have, just wait till you see the others."

"Petunia come on try this." Mr Evans held out a Fizzing Whizbee to his daughter.

"Are you mad? I would never try something like that. Don't come anywhere near me."

Marigold turned to her, "Oh look who decided to turn up. Its the-"

"Oh its the Freaks best freak friend. Don't talk to me, I didn't even want to come here."

"Then why don't you go home? Its not like Lily wants you here either."

"Okay, Marigold, Petunia stop it. If you want to fight you can do it another time. Petunia stop being so rude to Lily's friend and Marigold try to refrain from annoying Petunia." Mrs Evans stepped in. Marigold and Petunia stood there glaring at each other, then Marigold pulled out her wand, and twiddled it. At once Petunia screamed and ran from the room, Mr Evans sighed and followed her, while Mrs Evans shook her head a small smile on her face.

"What?" Marigold asked her, as she summoned up a sofa, "Its not my fault she's afraid of me."

"Come on Goldie, we have to go." James held out his hand to her.

"Really?"

"Yep, we have work to do and we have to train. Sirius told me that Hufflepuff won the game so it is a definite that we are playing Slytherin for the cup."

"Okay, we'll have to go back then." she turned to Mrs Evans, "Goodbye Sara, it was good to see you again."

"You to Marigold. We'll see you for Easter? You are coming to ours aren't you?"

"Oh yes, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Say goodbye to Michael and Petunia for me."

Sarah nodded, "I will. Goodbye James."

"Goodbye Mrs Evans." James shook her hand.

They stood there in a awkward silence, till Marigold marched over to Lily and whispered a goodbye. James followed her. He stood there looking at Lily before bending a kissing her forehead.

"Love you Lils." he whispered quietly then stepped away.

Marigold grinned at Mrs Evans, "See you at Easter Sara." then she turned on the spot and she and James disappeared.

* * *

The days passed and still Lily didn't wake up. Mr and Mrs Evans got more and more worried. Jane helped them as much as she could, but found most of her time taken up by her job, as the Aurors got more and more calls. At school James was even worse. He had stopped concentrating on his lessons and even at Quidditch practice, which he held every day. Everyone knew that he was thinking of Lily and that they somehow had to get his mind off her, but everything they tried failed. If they managed to get his mind onto something else, he would be happy for a few minutes, then someone would say something that reminded him of Lily and they would be back at the beginning. Severus kept himself to himself and didn't try to talk to James of the other Gryffindors. Only James' friends knew that he had had any involvement and they preferred not to talk about it.

"This is ridiculous." James burst out one evening in the common room. "Why can't they help her? They've even got the bloody spell, and they do nothing."

"James, don't be like that. They're doing they can."

"Shut up Donny." James glared at Mary and the girl did shut up.

Sirius looked up and sighed, "Look mate, Donny is right they are doing all they can to help Lily-Petal, but-"

"No buts Padfoot. Did you even read that book? It said that if the victim is not cured within two weeks there is little chance of them ever being cured. And Lily has been unconscious for _more_ than two weeks. She could be dead!"

"She's not though is she Prongs. If she was we would all know."

James stared at Sirius then flung the book he was reading across the room, "Screw this Padfoot. I'm going to her."

"James!"

"Prongs!"

The voices were lost behind James as he left the common room and went out into the grounds. He headed for the Forbidden Forest. This was where he felt comfortable, with a speed that even Professor McGonigal would be impressed with, James transformed into a stag and ran.

* * *

There was silence in the common room, the only noise that had been made since James outburst had come from a second year who had been hit by James' book. Sirius and Remus were looking at each other, whilst Mary, Marigold, Alice and Peter were watching them. Finally Sirius stood up, and turned to the students.

"Why don't you all get back to what you were doing, and forget about what just happened. Higgins go to Madame Pomfrey and get your nose sorted out. Moony, Wormtail, lets go up to the dorm, we need to talk about something."

Once Sirius and the other two Marauders had gone, the students got back to their work. Alice glanced at Mary.

"Are you okay? James didn't mean it you know, he's just worried about Lily."

"Yeah I know." Mary turned back to her book for a second, then stood up, "I'm going to see my cousin. See you guys later."

Marigold sighed as Mary left them, "This is terrible."

"Yeah," agreed Alice, "and its going to get much worse on Lily's birthday. Its next week already."

Marigold stared at Alice, "Are you serious?"

"Yep, its the thirtieth next Tuesday-Lily's seventeenth birthday. Whoopee!"

"That sucks. James is going to be a right mess, by the time she come back...if she comes back."

Neither of them said any more after that. Both were imagining what life would be like without Lily and neither of them were liking it.

* * *

The trees started getting closer and closer together and soon James had to fight to get through them. He had changed back into his human form a while back, but was still alert for any sudden movements. When he was in his animal form he found it easier not to think about Lily, but now he wanted to think of her. Here in the depths of the forest where no one, not even Sirius could find him. He sat down on one of the roots of a massive tree and started to cry. Tears ran from his eyes in torrents and James started to wonder how he had any left, but finally they did subside and James noticed that he was no longer alone. Azzie stood before him, watching carefully. When she realised that James had noticed her, she bowed, "Master James. It is good to see you again."

"Azzie, what are you doing here?"

"Mrs Potter asked Azzie to check up on Master James, sir and to see if he was holding up."

"Great, so are you going to tell her about this?"

Azzie thought for a second, "I would have to Master James, unless you forbade me to tell anyone about it. Then Azzie couldn't tell Mrs Potter."

"But you can't lie either Azzie."

"Azzie doesn't need to lie Master Potter. What she sees with her own eyes is different to what Master Potter might be feeling, so Master Potter could lie to Azzie about how he is so that Azzie doesn't have to lie to Mrs Potter, as if Master James says that then Azzie doesn't know whether it is the truth or not." she stopped panting heavily. "Does Master James understand?"

James nodded, "Yes I do Azzie. Next time try putting a few breaths into that speech."

Azzie grinned, then became serious, "Master James is not okay, though is he?"

James shook his head, "No Azzie, I'm not. Its just so hard, being without her. I don't think I can manage it."

"But you must Master James! Azzie overheard Mrs Potter speaking to Mr Potter, last night. Mrs Potter said that Miss Lily will get better, that the doctors have almost perfected the spell. It won't be too long now Master James till Miss Lily is back."

"Really? My mum said that? Oh Merlin if only she would come back soon, goodness knows I need her. Azzie are you sure she said that?"

"Yes, Master James, yes. The spell will be ready on Wednesday and then Miss Lily should wake up and-"

"Should? What do you mean by should Azzie?"

The house elf looked at James nervously, "Mrs Potter did say that there was a chance the spell might not work, and if it doesn't then nothing else can be done. But only a small chance, Mrs Potter did say that it was more likely that Miss Lily would wake up."

James looked at his house elf for a minute then nodded, "Okay, thank-you Azzie. You'd better get back, mum will be wondering where you are. Tell her I'm fine and I forbid you to speak of this. Tell her you found me in the grounds."

The house elf nodded and bowed, "I will do that Master James, I will. Goodbye Master James."

she turned slightly away then turned back, "And Master James, don't worry." then she disappeared. James stared at the spot where she had been and bent his head. Azzie was so right in so many way, it was sometimes hard for James to remember that she was an elf. He stood up and transformed, he had been out here long enough, Sirius and the others would be looking for him on the map and it must be almost eleven. James had no trouble finding his way out of the tightly packed trees. His stag senses lead the way, till he was back in familiar parts.

* * *

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Sirius recited the incantation pointing his wand at the piece of battered old parchment on the bed. At once dark ink started spreading out over it and the Marauders found themselves looking at The Marauders Map.

"Can you see him anywhere?" Remus asked, looking over Sirius' shoulder.

The black haired boy shook his head, "No. You don't really think he actually went to see her do you?"

"He might have done, he was pretty upset." Peter pointed out.

"Yes, but James still wouldn't do that, anyway there's no way to apparate out of Hogwarts, and he's under age. No I bet he's gone to the forest or to Hogsmead."

"We should go after him. Which is the most likely?" Remus asked.

"They both are. Hogsmead because of the Hogs Head, and the forest because of well... we all know why."

Remus nodded, "So we split up then?"

"Yeah, I would say so, although if Prongs had gone to Hogsmead he would have taken the cloak with him."

"But he didn't come up to the dorm before he went, did he, so he won't have it."

"Okay here's what we'll do. Wormtail, you and Moony go down to Hogsmead, with the cloak, and I'll go to the forest. If I change then I might be able to sniff him out."

Remus nodded, "We'll meet back here at eleven, so that gives us one and a half hours, if we haven't found him by then, we should go tell Dumbledore."

"Okay, see you two later." Sirius headed for the door, before he left he cast a dissolution spell over himself. Remus fetched the invisibility cloak from James' trunk and turned to Peter.

"Ready?" the boy nodded.

"Goo- oh the map." Remus hurried over to where the map was still lying open on Sirius' bed. "Mischief managed. Now lets go."

* * *

"And any luck?" Sirius sat up hopefully in the chair as Remus and Peter came through the portrait hole.

Remus shook his head, "No, we went to The Three Broomsticks and to The Hogs Head, but he wasn't there. Aberforth says he hasn't seen him since the last time we went there. What about- you didn't find him either."

"No, couldn't even find his sent. Maybe he _did_ go see Lily after all."

Remus shrugged, "Well where ever he is we have to go tell Dumbledore. I'll go drop the cloak off in the dorm, then we'll go."

Sirius nodded, and Remus ran up the stairs. He pushed the door to the dorm open and saw James lying on his bed. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was asleep, Remus sighed, and slipped back down to Sirius and Peter.

"Thank Merlin. I was actually starting to believe that he had gone to Lily. Wonder where he did go?"

"That doesn't matter, all that does is that he's here. Come on I'm tired, I need sleep." Remus headed back up the stairs, followed by Sirius and Peter.

James' eyes were still closed when they went back, but he had changed position, and Remus knew at once that he was awake, yet he didn't say anything. It was only after they were all in bed and Sirius and Peter were asleep, that James got up. He thought that the others were all asleep, so he was surprised when Remus spoke.

"Prongs, you gave us a shock."

"Remus! Your awake."

"I never went to sleep. Prongs where did you go? We searched Hogsmead and the forest for you, and were about to go to Dumbledore."

"Who searched the forest?"

"Padfoot."

James snorted, quietly, "Well he didn't do a very good job. I kept to our normal path, most of the time."

"So you were in the forest."

James nodded, "Yes I was."

"What did you do there?"

"I went to think, and I need to do more. I'm going to The Room Of Requirement. See you later."

He picked up the cloak and left. Remus didn't try to follow, James wanted to be by himself. In fact he had probably wanted to go to The Room Of Requirement since he got back from the forest, but he never went there without the cloak. Remus sighed, this really was to much for his battered body to cope with, the full moon was coming soon again as well. _Please_ Remus thought _please may Lily be back by the full moon. James wouldn't be able to cope without her._

With that thought running through his mind Remus fell asleep.

* * *

After his outburst of the previous day, the whole of Gryffindor was wary of James. They tried not to talk about anything that would upset him, in fact they tried to stay as far away from him as possible. People from other houses kept away from him too. Only one person was brave enough to taunt James about Lily and that was Evan Rosier, a seventh year in Slytherin. He came up to James that morning in the Great Hall.

"Hey Potter, I just heard what you did last night. Missing your little Mudblood girlfriend? She won't be much of a loss to us, if she doesn't wake up. Don't worry there are other filthy Mudbloods that you can fall for. Lets just hope-"

James lunged at him, "You bastard. I'll kill you Rosier. Lily is ten times better than you are even if she's from a Muggle family. I-"

But James didn't get to finish his sentence either as Remus and Peter pulled him off Evan. The boy grinned, "Ohh, look at that hey, you a bit unstable aren't you Potter? Better be careful otherwise Dumbledore will take you Head Boy badge away. Hogwarts can't been seen with an unstable Head can it now? Then again Dumbledore has made a Mudblood Head Girl, I think it fits together perfectly."

"Oi, Rosier, knock it off."

Evan turned to glare at Sirius, "Well if it isn't the traitor. Did you enjoy seeing your family's name in the paper? I bet Potter hates you now for what they did to his family."

Sirius snarled and pulled out his wand, Rosier quickly took his own out to defend himself.

"Go on then Black, hex me, and you'll really become one of the family."

Sirius raised his wand a spell on the edge of his lips when Marigold hissed at him, "Sirius stop."

Sirius' hand dropped and he hid his wand just as Professor McGonigal approached. She frowned at Evan who still had his wand pointed at Sirius.

"Mr Rosier, what are you doing?"

Evan stared at the teacher, "Nothing Professor."

"It doesn't look like nothing to me. Why have you got your wand pointing at Mr Black?"

"Because his is pointing at me."

Professor McGonigal looked towards Sirius, who of course had no wand, "But Mr Rosier, Mr Black's wand is not out."

Evan glared at Sirius, "Oh I'll get you for that Black. Mark-"

"Enough!" Professor McGonigal glanced round and noted that James was still being held back by Remus and Peter, and that Marigold's hand was resting on Sirius' shoulder as if she too was holding him back. She sighed, she could guess what had happened, "Mr Rosier," she said finally, turning to the blond haired boy, "you know that it is against the school rules to use fight in the corridors. You will receive a detention. Come to my classroom at seven this evening. Mr Black you can come to my office at six-thirty. Now put your wand away Mr Malfoy and go back to your own table."

Professor McGonigal waited till Evan was sitting down at the Slytherin table before she left. Once she had Remus and Peter let go of James, who slumped back down in his seat. Sirius and Marigold also took their places.

"Padfoot you know I don't care what your family has done to mine don't you?" James whispered quietly.

"Yeah, Prongs I do. I went for him because of what he said about Lily. She might be a Muggle, but she is much better than him."

"He won't ever change his mind Pads, just leave it."

"What'd you think McGonigal wants with you Sirius?" Alice asked, licking pumpkin juice off her fingers.

Sirius shrugged, "Who knows, Kitty has strange ideas sometimes."

"Kitty?" Frank asked confused.

"Yeah, McGonigal is an animagus and she changes into a cat, so her name is Kitty."

"Ha ha, is that how you guys got your nicknames?" Frank laughed.

Sirius glanced at James, who spoke, "No, it comes from our Patronases. Mines a stag, Padfoot's is a dog, Moony's is er...a um...um a Owl? And er Wormtail's is a rat."

"How did you get the name Moony, from an owl?" Marigold asked.

"Easy," James was now in his stride, "Owls are night animals and, as Remus didn't want to be called Wise Git, we went for Moony."

Sirius snorted, "Ha ha, Wise Git. Wow Prongs that's a good name."

"Yeah, thank Padfoot, just laugh along with the rest of them." Remus crossed his arms glaring at his laughing friends.

"Aww come on Remus, it was quite good." Alice laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Yeah okay, ha ha, I'm laughing. Good enough Alice?"

Alice nodded, "For now. You'll see the funny side later, don't worry."

"Sure." he muttered and turned back to his food. They finished off their breakfast then went off to their lessons. James took double notes of everything that they did, Sirius watched him worriedly. James never paid that amount of attention to any of his lessons. Even Professor McGonigal was surprised to see how hard James worked. After Transfiguration Sirius went up to her desk.

"Professor, I know you wanted me to come to you later today, but I think that something needs to be done with James."

Professor McGonigal eyed him over her glasses, then nodded, "I have to say that I agree with you Mr Black. Something strange is going on with him. What do you think about it?"

Sirius hesitated for a second, "I think that its because he's missing Lily. He's taking notes like he's never done before, and doing them twice. I think that the second set is for Lily. Professor, he hasn't seen her since that first weekend she went in to St Mungo's, do you think that he might be allowed to visit her?"

"Yes, he probably would feel better if he saw her, but then he also might become worse. Then what could we do? The students are already wary of him, and if he does become worse, then there will probably be more arguments breaking out like today in the Great Hall. I am right about that aren't I? The fight was about Lily?"

"Yeah, sort of. Lily being a Muggle, James acting weird and my family killing members of James' family."

"Ah I see. Well I'll ask Professor Dumbledore about James visiting Lily."

"Oh Professor, you know that its Lily's birthday this Tuesday?"

"Yes I do Mr Black, what about it?"

"Well, could we all, as in Marigold, Alice, Mary, Remus, James and I go and see her on that day? She would want that Professor."

Professor McGonigal stared at the boy in front of her and realised that she hardly recognised him any more. He had changed so much from the wild little eleven year old, she had met seven years ago. Different from the troublesome Marauder he had come to be with James, Remus and Peter. She smiled slightly, "I'll see what I can do Mr Black. Now you better get off to your next lesson, you don't need to come to me tonight. I was going to ask you about James and the Great Hall, but as we've covered that... well off you go."

Sirius left. He ran down the stairs to the dungeons, for Potions. Professor Slughorn had lost some of his bounciness now that his favourite pupil was missing. Sirius apologised for being late and sat in his place. He spotted Severus across the room, his face was bent and it was obvious that he wasn't paying attention. The boy glanced up for a second and Sirius saw that his face was red. _ He's been crying_ Sirius realised with a jolt, _he must be upset about Lily._

"Mr Black the answer please?"

"Huh? What?" Sirius jumped and turned to look at Professor Slunghorn.

The teacher sighed, "What is the cure for almost all poisons?"

"Oh, um a bezore stone."

"Good, now pay attention."

* * *

The rest of the day passed slowly and all the Gryffindors were relived when it was over. Most of the seventh years went to bed early; the amount of work that was now being piled on them meant that most weekends they were up till past midnight, and it took some of them almost the entire week to recover. The next day was Saturday and the girls went into town, 'to get presents for Lily' Marigold said. The golden headed witch firmly believed that her friend would be well again for her birthday. James also decided to get a present for Lily, and not wanting to be left alone with Peter, Sirius and Remus joined him. It reminded James of Christmas shopping, and he felt tears coming to his eyes as he thought about how pretty Lily had looked wrapped up in her emerald green coat. The shopping was finished quickly but James refused to enter The Three Broomsticks. So they ended up going back to school and getting hot chocolate from the house elves. Sunday was taken up with doing the homework that they had neglected on Saturday. The weekend had slightly relaxed James, but by Monday he was worse than ever. The teachers were lenient, they all knew that it was Lily's birthday the next day and knew how unhappy her friends were that she wasn't there. During lunch Sirius was called to go see Professor McGonigal. When he came back there was a huge grin on his face.

"Hey guys guess what?"

"What?" Marigold asked.

"Na uh, I said guess."

"Just tell us Black." Mary said irritably.

Sirius sighed, "Okay fine. Well Dumbledore has given us permission to have tomorrow off."

"Wonderful." Alice muttered, "So that we can catch up on our work?"

"Nope." Sirius' grin got wider, "We have tomorrow off, so that we can visit Lily-Petal."

"WHAT!" Marigold screeched, jumping up. "We get to see Lily tomorrow?"

"Um yeah, Goldie that's what I just said."

"Padfoot are you serious?" James asked, taking his hold of his friends arm.

"Yes Prongs I am. If you don't believe me go ask Kitty yourself. We leave early tomorrow and have to be back by nine."

"YES!" James jumped up, "I've got to go wrap Lily's present, I'll see you later." and he rushed off.

"Who do you mean by 'we'?" Alice asked.

"I mean, you, Donny, Goldie, Frank, Peter, Remus, James and me. We're all allowed to go."

"In that case I also need to wrap Lily's present." Alice stood.

"Me too. Come on Mary, lets go with Alice." Marigold joined Alice and the three girls hurried out the hall.

Sirius turned to Remus, "Well I'd like a 'thank-you Sirius' at least."

"Why do you get one Padfoot, surely we should thank Dumbledore."

"No you should thank me, I was the one who asked if we could all go see her tomorrow." _no need to mention that I didn't include Frank and Peter, _he thought. A bell rang for the end of lunch and they grabbing their bags left for their next lesson.


	23. Unconscious Birthday Girl

AN/ Hey guys. As you can see I do have access to internet, which I am very happy about. I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

Unconscious Birthday Girl

The room was quiet, nothing there showed that the girl lying in the bed had turned seventeen that day. There were no balloons, no streamers and no cake. Marigold stared round the room then turned to Mary and Alice, "We need to go do some shopping. Come on."

The two girls decided that it was better not to argue and followed their friend. James sat down beside Lily. She looked the same as she had done when he last came, her long hair spread out around her and her face still and relaxed. If James didn't know better he would have though she was dead. He took her hand and rubbed it; it was warm. Taking comfort in that he bent closer and whispered, "Happy Birthday Lils."

Lily didn't respond although James wish with his whole heart that she would. _Never mind,_ he told himself, _only one more day. One more day and she'll be back. _

"Happy Birthday Lily-Petal!" Sirius came up and gave her a hug, lifting her body off the bed.

"Padfoot, put her down." Remus hissed. "Your acting like a two year old."

Sirius turned to stare at Remus, "How am I acting like a two year old? Two year olds can't lift people off beds can they? Unless they've got stronger since I was one."

James laughed slightly, "Just put her back Pads. If the nurse comes and finds her like that, you'll be kicked out."

Sirius sighed, but placed Lily gently back down on the bed.

"Should we wait till Goldie and the others come back before giving her her presents?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. Knowing Goldie she probably went to buy some thing to decorate the room with. Did you see the look on her face when she entered."

The boys nodded, then Frank spoke, "I don't get it. Why do girls always think that there needs to be a lot of fuss made? I mean, yes its Lily's birthday but I don't think the nurses will like the decorations that they are likely to bring back."

"I agree with you Frank, but girls will be girls." Sirius shook his head mournfully, then smiled. "Wonder what I would be like as a girl?"

"I'd hate to think about it, Pads. Ugh to late." James groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"Would I have long hair? Ohh what about black hair? Long black hair, I think I'd look quite pretty don't you? Prongs if I was a girl would you go out with me?"

Sirius looked up at James, who was now resting his head on the pillow, "Do you want an honest answer Padfoot?"

"Yes, Prongs I do."

"Then no."

"No! Why would you want to be with me? Me, your best friend!"

"Because Padfoot, I have Lily and I would never want anyone else. Sorry."

Sirius stared at James in horror, "BETRAYAL! BERAY-"

"What is going on in here?" a voice came from the door and the boys spun round. Jane Potter stood there and she was glaring at Sirius.

"Sirius your voice could be heard all the way down the corridor, your lucky the nurse didn't come in here. What are you boys doing here anyway?"

"Its Lily's birthday and Dumbledore gave us permission to come and see her." Remus stepped in, hoping that if Sirius was clever enough, he wouldn't do anything else that would spark Jane's temper. Unfortunately that day Sirius wasn't being clever. He turned to Jane and gave her a wide smile.

"Mama Jane! How are you? Did you know that Lily's seventeen today? We came to give her a party …..and can you believe that if I was a girl your son wouldn't want to go out with me! Can you believe that? Can you?"

Jane's glare increased, "Sirius, I don't care whether James would be with you or not. All I care about is making sure that Lily doesn't get stressed out."

"How can she get stressed out?"

"Sometimes people who are in comas or unconscious can hear. So if your shouting around Lily, she will not be very happy."

"She can hear us?" Marigold appeared at the door, laden down with bags. "That's good, we'll be able to sing Happy Birthday to her. Now Sirius come and help me this these bags."

Alice and Mary stumbled in after Marigold, and they had their hands full of bags. Jane raised her eyebrows, at them all. James saw his mothers look and shrugged, "Its Goldie, Mum. She's a bit eccentric."

"Obviously. Er Marigold, you do know that Lily wont be able to see these things, don't you."

Marigold looked up from hanging a banner, "She will when she wakes up, they're not coming down till she's awake."

Jane nodded slowly, "Okay, well give me something to do then."

James watched as his mother joined Marigold and the others. He turned away from them and walked over to Lily.

"Hey Lils," he whispered, "You know its your birthday, well your going to have to wake up soon. Because Goldie's got you a massive cake, and we're gonna need your help to finish it. Not even Sirius will be able to eat it all. He thinks he'll look good as a girl, and wants to be my girlfriend. But he'd be the worst girlfriend in the world. Your a hundred times better, than him."

James looked up quickly to see where Sirius was. Once he'd determined that Sirius was a safe distance away, he continued, "I mean can you imagine Sirius in a dress? No I can't either. Hufflepuff won the Quidditch, so its a sure thing that we're playing Slytherin in the final."

James paused for a second, tears threatening to fall. He dashed them away. "You're gonna be fine. Yeah, you gonna be fine..." _I hope. _ He added to himself.

"Hey Prongs," Remus came up to him, "Goldie wants you to magic up some confetti with seventeen on them. She says they're to be spread around the room, randomly."

James rolled his eyes, "I don't think Lily would like that."

Remus shrugged, "Maybe not, but I'd rather not argue with Goldie. You better just do it."

James sighed and pulled out his wand, then stopped, "Moony can I use your wand?"

Remus nodded, handed it over and watched as James summoned up the confetti.

"Ohh James, they're great. Okay I think we're done." Marigold beamed at all of them.

"Where are we putting this?" Frank asked, as he staggered towards them carrying a table, almost overflowing with presents.

"By Lily's bed, so that she'll see them when she wakes up. And now, lets all get round her bed, we need to sing happy birthday."

"Really Goldie?"

"Yes, Black we do. Now come on." Marigold grabbed her boyfriend's arm and dragged him to Lily's bedside. The rest of the group followed, not wanting to be shouted at by Marigold. Then followed a slow painful version of Happy Birthday.

"Well congratulations guys. If Lily was awake she would be yelling at how awful that was." Sirius grinned at his friends and clapped his hands slowly. They all laughed.

"That was pretty shocking." Jane admitted. "Now I'll have to leave you, have fun today but work hard at school. Bye."

She gave James a quick hug, then left. Once she had gone all the teens sat down and started talking, talking about anything that came into their minds, often including Lily, even though she couldn't reply. It was around midday when Mr and Mrs Evans turned up, dragging Petunia with them. The brown haired girl was once again complaining.

"I don't see why we need to come here again. She's not going to be awake. Its a waste of time, I'd rather be with Vernon, than being here."

"Petunia stop it. Its your sisters birthday, and in this world she is officially an adult. Now-"

Mr Evans stopped when he saw the room and all the people in it.

"Well this is a surprise." Sara stared at the teenagers, "Marigold, Alice, oh and Mary your all here. Wow did you all come especially to see Lily?"

Marigold nodded, "Yes. Dumbledore let all of us come down for the day, seeing as its Lily's birthday."

"Ahh yes, hello James."

"Hello Mrs Evans." James bent his head slightly. "Um may I introduce you to, Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." James gestured at each of the boys in turn. "Guys meet Mr and Mrs Evans, Lily's parents."

The boys all greeted Mr and Mrs Evans, and the couple did the same. Only Petunia stood in silence glaring at them.

"Sara, Michael, um this is my boyfriend Sirius Black." Marigold decided to introduce Sirius before he exploded. Mrs Evans smiled, and welcomed him, then turned to her daughter.

"This is Petunia, our eldest daughter. Petunia say hello to them please."

Petunia glared at her mother, "Why should I speak to them? They're all weirdos, and as I remember say before we got here, I _don't _ want to be here."

"Well we don't really want you here either but do you see us complaining?" Marigold shot the question out. "Hum? Do you? No. So stop complaining, because for the love of Merlin, we're not going to listen to you."

Petunia opened her mouth ready to give a snide reply, but Mrs Evans stepped in, "Okay, Marigold I think that its better if you keep away from Petunia and Petunia if you keep away from Marigold."

"Like I would ever want to go anywhere near those freaks." Petunia turned, ready to leave the room.

"Don't you even care?" Alice asked suddenly. "Don't you care that your sister is ill?"

"I'm sorry what did you say?"

"Don't you care that your sister could _die_?"

Petunia's face changed, "Lily could die?"

"Maybe. It said in the book that if she was unconscious for a long period of time, there is a high chance of her dying." Marigold's voice was malicious and her stare was hard.

"Marigold, are you telling us the truth?" Sara asked.

Marigold nodded, unhappily, "Yes, it is. I wouldn't have said anything but, I thought that the Nurses and Doctors might have told you."

Mr and Mrs Evans looked at one another, then Mr Evans sighed, "We weren't told anything, but Marigold thank-you for being honest with us. It means a great deal."

Sirius wrapped his arms around Marigold, and Sara stepped back slightly. She wasn't to keen on James or Sirius. James, because it was because of him, that Lily was in here. Sirius because well, she wasn't to sure, but there was something about the boy that she didn't like. She would have been happier if Lily wasn't dating James and if she wasn't friends with Sirius.

"Shall we sing Happy Birthday again?" Mary asked. "Now that we have two more voices, it might sound a bit better."

James laughed, "Yeah, but I highly doubt it Donny, I mean we do have Sirius with us."

"Hey!" Sirius let go of Marigold and lashed out at James. "Just you wait Prongs, I'll get you back for that."

"Uh, no you won't." Marigold grabbed Sirius' shirt, "James is right Sirius. Your probably the worst singer in the whole room."

"Goldie, your my girlfriend! How could you say that?"

"Because its true Black. So deal with it." Mary retorted. "Now come on, lets start."

So once again a group gathered round Lily's bed, including, to everyone's surprise Petunia. This time round it was much better, though afterwards Mary swore that it was because Sirius wasn't singing. Sara started to talk to Remus and Frank, while Michael asked Alice and Mary about the school. Grateful that Sara's attention had been taken away from himself, James slipped out the room. Seeing him disappear Marigold followed him.

"James, what's up?"

James spun to face her, "Her mother. Lily's mother doesn't like me, Goldie! How can I do this? I want to be with Lily, but if her parents don't approve of me then there's no point in us being together."

"Oh James, for goodness sake. If you hadn't told Sara that you were going out, then everything would have been okay."

"So its my fault that Mrs Evans hates me?"

"In a way yes, but also no."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that its not only your fault, its Lily's as well."

"No." James shook his head, "Its not Lily's fault. She'll never be at fault, Goldie. To me she's perfect."

Marigold sighed, "I know James, but you have to see it from Sara's point of view."

"She probably wishes that I was the one lying in that bed, and that Lily was perfectly fine."

"James every mother wishes that. You can't blame Sara for thinking that."

"No, but if it hadn't been for me then Lily wouldn't be in here."

"Actually its Sirius' fault, and mine."

"Why yours?"

"I didn't try to defend her and I could have. Snape was only paying attention to Lily, so I could have disarmed him, and I didn't." Marigold sighed, "James, don't blame yourself. Sara will get over it, so don't spoil what you and Lily have because of that. Now are you coming back or what?"

"Nah, not yet. I think I'm going to buy something for Lily. I'll see you later."

Marigold watched him as he went, then turned, to re-enter Lily's room. Sirius looked up from where he was standing with Peter. "Where's James?"

"He went to buy something. Said it was for Lily." Marigold shrugged. "Sirius, I'd just leave him."

Sirius stopped on his way to the door, and stared at Marigold, "Leave him? Goldie he's not thinking straight! We can't leave him on his own."

"Sirius, don't follow him. He needs to be alone."

Sirius swayed slightly backwards and forwards on his feet, then groaned, "Oh I suppose your right. What's he getting anyway?"

"He didn't say."

Marigold turned towards Sara and joined in with her conversation. Sirius sighed, and headed back to Peter, when Remus called to him.

"Oi Padfoot, Mr Evans wants to know some of the tricks we've played at school. I can't remember all of them. Come and help me."

"Ah, my pleasure." Sirius rubbed his hands and joined Remus and Frank. Peter also wondered over towards them. Petunia was sitting beside her sisters bed, holding her hand and talking quietly to her.

* * *

James returned an hour later, to find that the Evans were now alone in Lily's room, his friends obviously had gone to lunch. He started to retreat, but Sara turned round and spotted him.

"Come in James. The others went to get some food."

James entered slowly, holding his hands behind his back, concealing what was in them. He took a breath.

"Mrs Evans, I'm sorry that Lily got hurt. It was because of me and my friend, and I cannot get rid of the feeling of guilt that I have. It should be me lying there instead of Lily."

Mrs Evans regarded James as he spoke, then smiled, "No need to be sorry James. I was quite unfair towards you as well. I should know better by now than to judge people on the outside, so I'm sorry."

James nodded slowly, then pulled his hands from behind his back, revealing a massive bunch of flowers. He pulled out his wand summoning up a vase to place them in. Mr and Mrs Evans stared, they had never seen flowers like that before in their lives. One instant they looked one colour and the next they had changed to another colour.

"Wow," Mrs Evans whispered, as James placed the vase on Lily's bedside table. As soon as the vase touched the surface, they changed colour again. This time they were a deep emerald green, a colour that none of the Evans' had ever seen on flowers.

"Wow," Mrs Evans repeated, "That's Lily's favourite colour. How did you know that?"

James grinned, "That's the wonder of magic. The flowers were enchanted to change colour until they reach the person they were bought for, when they change to the persons favourite colour. I thought it better to get these for her than any other."

Mrs Evans nodded, "I suppose your right."

"James, where do your family live? It can't be that far away from us can it?" Mr Evans looked at the boy.

James shook his head, "We live quite away away, in the countryside."

"Ahh, yes, well then you do live quite far away, we live just outside London."

"Prongs! Your back!" Sirius bounded into the room, followed by the rest of the teens. "What did you-ohhh flowers. Goldie, Prongs got Lily-Petal flowers. Can you get me some flowers?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because Black, girls normally get flowers _from_ boys, not the other way round."

"Aww come on Goldie, please."

"No! Black if you continue this you will find yourself without a girlfriend."

Sirius stared at Marigold with wide eyes, but stayed silent as he could tell that Marigold would carry out her threat. James grinned at his friends, and before anyone else could start attacking Sirius spoke.

"I think I'll go get some food. Anyone coming with me?"

"Err, Prongs, we've all just been." Remus said apologetically.

"I know that Moony, I was wondering if anyone wanted to come with me."

"I'm fine thanks, Prongs. Maybe Moony or Frank will go."

Sirius flopped down onto the sofa that had been made permanent, and dragged Marigold down with him.

"Well James, why don't you show us were the café is? I've managed to forget again, for the tenth time." Mr Evans smiled at James.

"Okay, shall we go then?"

"Yes, lets. Come on Sara, Petunia."

James grinned at his friends before he left the room with the Evans'.

"Well, James seems to be on better terms with them, doesn't he?" Frank asked, settling down in an arm chair.

"I think it was the flowers." Alice slipped onto Franks lap.

"Yeah must have been. Hey where's Peter?" Marigold looked round, "Sirius, I swear he was right behind you."

Sirius shrugged, "Maybe he got lost. I don't know. Don't worry about him Goldie, he'll come back at some point."

While they were sitting there talking a Nurse came in to check Lily's stats. She ignored the watching teens, until Sirius spoke.

"Hey, Nurse! How long till this cure is ready?"

The Nurse turned round and stared at Sirius, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that that is classified information. I can only tell you if your have some relationship with the patient. Do you have any?"

Sirius shook his head, "No, not really, but does being her boyfriend count?"

"No, it doesn't."

"Aww, well that's a shame."

The nurse just shook her head, sidestepped the sofa and left, muttering under her breath, about how rude the youth were nowadays. Mr Evans came back just as the Nurse left. He stared after then turned to the teens.

"What was she on about?"

"Oh, Sirius asked when Lily would be cured." Mary told him.

"And she didn't tell you?"

"No. Do you know Mr Evans?"

"No, I don't know either, they haven't told me or my wife anything. But I don't expect them to, even if we did ask."

"But they will Mr Evans!" Alice cried. "The Nurse told Sirius that unless he was a family member he'd not find anything out. But your her father! They'll tell you if you ask."

Mr Evans eyed Alice for a second, then nodded, "Yes I suppose so. Tell you what I'll go ask quickly." he left, then came back, "Err which way is the Nurses station?"

Marigold smiled, jumping up, "I'll show you Michael. Come on Sirius, your coming too." she pulled Sirius to her feet, and not listening to any of his complaints dragged him from the room. Alice stood up and walked over to Lily. She glanced round, wanting to make sure that no one else had followed her, which they hadn't. She turned back to the sleeping girl and took her hand.

"Hey Lily, its me Alice. I hope you get better soon. We really miss you at school. James is going crazy-he really, really likes you Lil. Merlin, I'd even say that he loves you. Lil you've got to wake up! We can't last much longer without you. You parents are just as badly affected at James, and even your sister is upset. Please Lils, please."

Alice stopped as she felt some hands on her shoulder. She turned and saw Frank standing there. He smiled at her.

"You okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, yeah I am. You should talk to her Frank, she'll like that."

Frank watched his girlfriend carefully, then sighed, "All right. Um hi Lily. I er... I really hope you come back soon. Its...its not the same without you in the common room. There's no one to shout at Sirius when he annoys us." He stopped at looked at Alice. The brown haired girl nodded, knowing that what Frank had said was all that he was going to say to Lily. He was quite good friends with Lily, but didn't like talking that much. Alice took his hand and lead him away, out the room. As soon as they had gone, Mary stood up. With only Remus left in the room, she felt safe enough to talk to Lily. She stood there for a few seconds then sat on the bed.

"Lily your one of my best friends and I really need you to wake up. I know that you can't until the cure is ready, but once they've given it to you, please, please, wake up. The book says you shouldn't survive, but you must wake up. I know you can, your strong enough to do it, so you must. Come on Lily."

She was silent for a few minutes then started speaking again. "We had another talk about what we should do when we leave school. I think Marigold and Alice are thinking about becoming Aurors and James, Sirius, Remus and Frank are thinking the same. I really don't know what I'm going to do, I had a look at the leaflets they gave out, and I'm thinking of two. One of them is be a Healer and the other one is being a reporter for _The Daily Prophet. _I'm just really not sure what I should do, I need you for this. You need to help me decide which one to go for, and I need to do that in the next few weeks. You need to choose what your going to do as well. So just hurry up Lils and come back."

"She'll come back."

Mary spun round, Remus was standing a few feet away watching her. "She'll come back." He repeated more confidently. "Trust me Mary, she'll be back."

Mary nodded, "Its just so horrible that she can't enjoy her birthday. I mean she seventeen for goodness sake. She should be running around laughing, not lying unconscious in a hospital bed!"

"I know Mary. We all think the same as you, but there's nothing you or anyone else can do. Now come on, I think we need to take a trip to the sweetshop."

Remus pulled Mary from the room, and Lily was alone. To anyone looking in, it would have looked like a sad and lonely sight. A room with bright decorations, presents and flowers crowded onto tables and in the corner, a small sleeping girl, who only had one thin thread of survival clinging to her.

* * *

The room didn't remain empty for long, as soon the teens and the Evans' returned. They spent the rest of the day talking comfortably about Hogwarts and their families. Petunia preferred to sit in the corner, as far away from the witches and wizards as possible. She was relived when her parents finally decided to return home. Good-byes were said quickly and the Evans' left. The teens stayed another hour or so, before they to left. That evening they sat in the common room, drinking Butterbeer and completing the work that they had missed that day. Mary, Remus and Peter went to bed early. Peter had eventually turned up, just before the Gryffindors had left St Mungo's. James and Sirius stayed up later. Eventually at eleven thirty Sirius and Marigold bid James good-night and disappeared up their respective staircase. James watched them go, then got up and left. He wondered along the dark corridors, until he found himself outside The Room of Requirement. The doors opened and revealed a room its walls covered in the deep emerald green, that was Lily's favourite colour. A small bed stood surrounded by all of James' favourite objects, in the world. The best picture that he had ever seen of Lily was lying on the pillow, and he grinned, picking it up.

"Tomorrow Lils, you'll be back tomorrow."

He kissed the picture then settled down on the bed and started to make a list of what he and the other Marauders would need to get for Lily to have an amazing late birthday party. It was past one before he finally lay down in the small bed, and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

While the people of Hogwarts slept, the healers and nurses of St Mungo's were still awake. Only one room, on the fourth floor, still had its lights on. In that room, several healers and nurses were making the final preparations to the spell. Slowly they surrounded the little red headed girl lying in the bed, raising their wands, waiting for a signal. The head healer raised her wand, joining the others.

"On three." she said her voice steady. "One. Two. Three."

"Sit odio virus de corpore suo discutiunt, cui sensus restitui " The voices melded together and thin sliver rays of light came from every wand, joined up together and shot into the centre of Lily's chest. The girl suddenly took a huge breath, then was still again.

"Did it work?" one of the nurses asked.

"We'll have to wait and see. If it did she'll wake up some time today, if not then there's not much hope. Nurse Trent stay with her, until I send someone to relive you. We'll have to keep watch on her the whole time."

The assembled witches and wizards nodded, then left leaving one woman behind, who settled down to watch and wait, for the little unconscious, red-headed witch to wake up.


	24. Lost Memories, Forgotten Times

AN/ Hey guys. Sorry that it took longer to put this chapter up, but I didn't have any internet after Tuesday and have only just got home. So anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Lost Memories, Forgotten Times

The next day Sirius woke to Remus shouting at him. Sirius stared at his werewolf friend, "Whas up?"

he asked sleepily.

"James is gone. I don't think he even slept in his bed last night."

Sirius rolled over, tucking his head back under the pillow, "Don't worry about him Moony. He's probably gone for a run, we'll see him at breakfast."

Remus turned away from Sirius muttering angrily. The girls also noticed that James was missing, but didn't say anything. James was nowhere to be seen at breakfast, and by the time came for lessons his friends were starting to get worried.

"He wouldn't have gone anywhere outside the grounds." Remus said confidently.

"He might. Our biggest problem is-" Sirius stopped suddenly.

"Our biggest problem is what?" Marigold asked.

"I..er...I've left my homework in the dorm. You guys go ahead and I'll catch you up." Sirius turned and disappeared up the corridor. He sprinted along the hallways back to the common room, where he slipped up to the dorm.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Sirius hastily pointed his wand at the parchment, impatient for the map to appear. Once it had the boy scanned it, eager to see where James was. Finally he spotted the small tag that had _James Potter_ written on it. He had just appeared from a solid wall behind which lay The Room of Requirement, and was heading down towards the kitchens.

"Mischief Managed." Sirius gathered up the map and stuffed it into his school bag, before racing back down to the dungeons. Professor Slughorn looked up as Sirius came in, and shook his head, "Mr Black, why are you later?"

"I forgot my homework, so went to get it."

"Ah, then lets see it."

Sirius delved into his bag, then froze. _Shit! _He thought, _I did actually leave my work in the common room_

"Well Mr Black, where is it?"

"Err, well, you know Professor, there's a funny story about that."

"You don't have it do you Mr Black?"

"Er no. It seems as if I managed to forget it."

The teacher sighed, "Just sit down Mr Black."

Sirius hurriedly took his seat next to Remus. Ignoring the looks sent to him by Marigold, he took out the map again.

"And?" Remus whispered, once Professor Slughorn's back was turned.

"He was in The Room of Requirement and I-"

"Mr Black! Do you have something to say to us?"

"Err no Professor."

"Really? Because it seemed as if you and Mr Lupin did have a lot to say to each other. What was it?"

Sirius sighed, "We...um we were-"

"I was telling him what we were doing before he came in." Remus spoke up.

"Well be that as it may, you Mr Black have come in late and have just interrupted my lesson for a second time. Both you and Mr Lupin will attend detentions this break time."

"Yes Sir."

Neither of the boys spoke for the rest of the lesson. As soon as the bell went Sirius and Remus leapt up, rushing from the room. They slipped into one of the secret passageways once Peter had caught up with them.

"So he slept in The Room of Requirement?" Peter asked.

"Yes Wormtail he did. Where is he now Padfoot?"

Sirius scanned the map, "Er, I can't see him. Can you?"

"Nope. Wonder where he is?"

"Right behind you."

The boys jumped in shock and turned round. James was standing there grinning at them.

"Come on. Didn't you see me on the map?"

"Do you think we would have jumped if we had?" Remus demanded. "You've scared the life out of Peter."

Remus was right. Peter was trembling from head to foot, and looked as if he had been about to transform.

"Don't ever do that to me again Prongs."

James grinned, "All right. I'm sorry Wormtail. Oh Padfoot, Goldie is looking for you."

"Hey shouldn't we be going to our next lesson?" Remus asked. "One detention is already enough for me and seeing as we have Transfiguration next, I don't want to make it two."

The rest of the Marauders agreed and they rushed off to their class, only getting there on time by using the hidden passageways and tunnels. James couldn't concentrate during the lesson and was almost sent out by Professor McGonigal.

"What's wrong James?" Marigold asked as they went into lunch.

"Nothing."

"There is something. Your different today, not moody or snappy."

"Well yeah, I did see Lily yesterday and today she's going to-" he stopped suddenly.

"She's going to what?" Marigold asked. "Come on James! There's something your not telling us."

"I'm not keeping anything from you...except what I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Which is what?" James stayed silence, "James Potter, tell me right now."

"No, Goldie, I won't. I'm not allowed, well not until it actually happens."

"Arrrhhh, James Potter you are so annoying." Marigold groaned.

James grinned, "I know Goldie. But if I tell you, the person who told me would probably lose their job."

"So your not going to tell me?"

"No, Goldie."

Marigold groaned, turning back to her food.

"Hey, I think we should organise a birthday party for Lily."

There was a clatter as Alice dropped her knife, "What? You want to give Lily a birthday party when she's still unconscious in hospital?"

James sighed, "I didn't mean while she's in hospital. I meant when she's awake and when she comes back to school. It can be a welcome back and a birthday party."

"I think its a great idea." Marigold stated, "What shall we do then?"

"I already started writing a list about what we would need. Well by need I mean things that the Marauders need. You better take care of all the other things."

"Yeah, okay we will. But I think we should wait to buy the stuff, until she does wake up."

They all nodded, "That's a good idea." Mary nodded. "Sirius have you got all the homework that you need for next lesson?"

"We have homework for Charms?" Sirius asked shocked.

The group burst out laughing, "Oh Sirius, I wish you could have seen your face." Frank chuckled.

"No now stop laughing everyone, do we actually have homework or not?"

"No, Padfoot we don't. Donny's just kidding, right Donny?"

"Yes Remus I am. We don't actually have work, I just wanted to see if you'd believe me. And all of you did! I finally managed to trick the Marauders!" Mary beamed.

"Ohh just you wait Donny, just you wait." Sirius jumped up, pulling out his wand. Mary guessing what he was about to do also stood and fled the hall. Sirius gave her a few seconds head start, before tearing after her.

Marigold grinned as she watched her boyfriend, "Wow, Sirius is such a child sometimes. James what have you done to make him that way?"

"Me?" James asked, "I haven't done anything to him. I would say blame the people who brought him up, but his parents are nothing like him, so maybe it came from just being Sirius."

"So Sirius being Sirius made him as mad and crazy as he is?"

"Yeah, don't blame me Goldie. Your the one who decided to go out with him, not me."

"True, but he never behaved like this-"

"He did Goldie, you were just never around to see it." James cut her off, then stood up. "We'd better go see if Padfoot has left Donny alive. Coming Moony?"

Remus nodded, "Yeah, we'll have to be quick though. Lessons start soon."

"Meh, whatever."

James and Remus left the hall, leaving Alice and Marigold with Frank and Peter.

"Right well, I think I'll get to Herbology early." Marigold grabbed her bag.

"I'll come to." Alice jumped up, "See you later Frank."

Frank nodded, and stuffed another bread roll into his mouth.

"I don't know how he can eat that much, he's like the Marauders in that way."

"Yeah, I've noticed. Wonder what Sara will say if she ever she sees how much they all eat."

The two girls looked at each other then burst out laughing, with the image of Lily's mother.

"Miss Lucas!"

The girls stopped and turned. Professor Dumbledore stood at the foot of the staircase.

"Yes Professor?"

"Do you happen to know where Mr Potter is at the moment?"

"Um, not really. I think he's looking for Sirius."

Dumbledore nodded, "Ah yes, I saw Mr Black just now. Tell me am I right in thinking that he was chasing Miss McDonald?"

"Last time we saw him he was."

"Oh well then I know where he is. Thank you, and have a nice day."

With that the old Headmaster turned and walked back up the staircase.

"Wonder what he wanted with James?" Alice asked as they stepped out of the front doors.

"Maybe something to do with the fact that he's been neglecting his duties?"

"But Dumbledore wouldn't have know about that, cause Remus took over his patrols."

"Oh well then I have no idea."

Sirius and Mary turned up to the lesson just as it was about to start. Remus had already arrived as had Frank and Peter. Mary's hair was unruly and looked as if she had been through a hedge. James it seemed was still with Dumbledore as he didn't turn up. It was only after the lesson had finished and the Gryffindors were back in the common room, that he appeared.

"Hey Prongs! Where you been?"

"With Dumbledore."

"Did it really take an hour for him to tell you off?" Sirius asked sceptically.

James shook his head, "No."

For the first time his friends noticed that his eyes were shining and the small crease that had been forming between his eyes had gone. There was also a slight bounce in his step as he approached them.

"What's happened?" Sirius demanded.

James grinned, "I wasn't called into Dumbledore to be told off. I went because he wanted to tell me something."

"Well what did he tell you James?"

"Well he told me that the healers have managed to perfect the cure and they performed the spell on Lily last night."

"And?"

"Andddd," James dragged out the last letter, wanting to annoy his friends as much as possible. "And it seems as if it worked."

"It worked?" Frank asked.

James nodded, "The spell worked and Lily woke up just after nine this morning."

There was silence for a few seconds as Marigold, Alice and Mary digested James' words, then they started screaming.

"OH MY GOD!"

"LILY'S AWAKE!"

"SHE'S COMING BACK!"

"James when can we see her? We can see her right?"

"Have you seen her James? You have haven't you?"

"Do you think Dumbledore will let us go see her today?"

The boys stared at the three girls. They were all jumping up and down, clamouring round James demanding that he answer their questions. Poor James was getting quite confused.

"Hey guys stop it!" Sirius bellowed, finally when he could take no more. The girls fell silent. "Thank you. Now Prongs, say again what's happened."

James sighed, "Lily's awake, and she's coming back to school in two days."

"She'll be having lessons in two days?"

"No, the hospital's sending her back here, to recover in the Hospital Wing. She'll be there for a few days, before she'll be allowed up. And then she can go back to lessons."

"Can we see her?"

"Er no, Dumbledore's not letting anyone else see her."

"What do you mean by 'anyone else'?"

"I mean that none of you are allowed to see her."

"James you haven't answered my question."

"And what question was that?"

"Have you been to see her?"

James sighed, "Yes I have. I've just come back."

"Did she look okay?"

"Yeah she looked fine, but...-"

"But what?"

"But she didn't recognise me. She was awake, still a little hazy, but she had no idea who I was."

"Oh James!" Alice put her arm around James, "Look its probably from the spell, and having been unconscious for almost a month."

"Yeah, maybe. It just hurt so bad to see her like that. For her to look straight at me yet not know who I am."

"She'll remember you James, just wait. I'm sure its from the spell."

James nodded, "Suppose so. I'm going for a fly. See you guys later."

He left, and Marigold turned to her boyfriend, "Sirius go after him and make sure he's okay."

Sirius sighed, "Goldie, James won't want anyone to follow him, otherwise he would have said."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." the reply came from both Remus and Sirius this time, and from the looks on their faces, Marigold and Alice knew there was no point in trying to persuade them.

"Right, come on Alice, Mary, we need to start planning the decorations for the party, and then go buy them. Humm I wonder when we'll have time to do that? We could have the party on Saturday, but then all the decorating needs to be done already. Um-"

"You could always use a secret passage, that takes you straight into Hogsmead." Sirius said, eyeing the girls to see what their reaction was. To his surprise the girls paid no attention to them what so ever, they just kept on talking. Sirius sighed and repeated himself. This time the girls did listen.

"Really?" Marigold asked. "Can you show it to us? I think its better if we go down right now, if the shops are still open."

"Oh the shops are still open, so if you get your stuff, we'll all go down. Come on Moony, Wormtail."

* * *

The seventh years got back late that night. James was sitting in the common room waiting, and he looked up when they came in.

"Finally. Did you get everything you needed?"

"Er almost. I think we need to take a visit to Diagon Alley, but I have no idea how we're going to get there."

"Meh, that's easy. We can get Amy to go down, she'll go with Azzie and get what ever we want."

"We need it as soon as possible."

"That's fine," James shrugged, and pulled out his wand, sending a shower of sparks out of the window. Only a few minutes later, there was a pop and Azzie appeared.

"Yes Master James?"

James smiled, "Hey Azzie. We were wondering if you could take Amy to Diagon Alley to get some things for her."

"Master James, Miss Amy is at school this week and Mrs Potter wont let her go into town."

"What did she do?" Sirius asked, curiously.

Azzie sighed, "Mrs Potter found Miss Amy flying around outside the protection barriers."

"So Mama Jane grounded her?"

"Yes, Master Sirius she did."

Sirius groaned, "That really sucks, how are we going to get the stuff we need now?" suddenly Sirius' eyes lit up, "Azzie!"

The house elf looked up at Sirius suspiciously, "Yes Master Sirius?"

"Azzie, would you do a favour for us?"

Azzie groaned, "Yes Master Sirius, if Master James wishes it me to do it then I will."

James nodded, and Sirius told the elf what they needed. James noticed the look on Azzie's face and sighed.

"I'm sorry Azzie. I know you don't want to do this, but we do really need it. Will you do it for us?"

After a moments silence Azzie nodded, "Yes Master James I will do it, but only because I think that Miss Lily deserves a treat, when she finally comes back."

"Thank you Azzie!" Sirius cried, pulling the house elf into a hug. "Here's the money, it should be enough, if not, er-"

"If its not enough Master Sirius then I will use my own money and you can pay me back."

"Aww Azzie your a star. Thank-you." Sirius hugged the house elf again.

"Is that all Master James?" Azzie asked.

"Yes, thank-you Azzie. If you could get the things to us as fast as possible though, so that we can put it all together."

Azzie nodded and bowed, "Yes Master James, yes." the elf waited for a second, then when no more requests were made, disappeared.

* * *

Two days later Lily arrived back at school, and was taken straight to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let anyone visit her until the following day, but even then she would only let two people see her. It was obvious that James and Marigold wanted to be the two to visit her, but somehow James had landed himself a detention with Professor Slughorn, during the visiting time. Alice and Mary were arguing over who would accompany Marigold and eventually tired of their fighting, Remus got two sticks and made each of them take one.

"What does this mean?" Mary asked holding up her stick.

"Put it against the stick that Alice has and see if its shorter, or longer."

"And what happens if it is shorter?" Alice questioned.

"Then you get to go see Lily, but if its longer then Mary can go. Get it?"

Alice nodded, "Yep. Isn't it called drawing the short straw or something?"

"Yes, but in our case we have sticks, now Mary put yours against Alice's."

Mary did as she was told and as soon as she had, it was obvious that her stick was three inches shorter than Alice's.

Alice grinned, "Awesome, I get to go see Lily."

"Whoopee!" Mary sighed, "And I get to sit here with the bloody Marauders."

"Aww, don't be sad Donny, I can keep you company." Sirius cried.

"Great." Mary muttered. "I'm going to see my cousin, see you guys later."

Sirius turned to the others, once Mary had gone, "What did I say?"

Marigold shook her head, "Don't worry about it Sirius, she's just upset because she can't see Lily. You'll be able to survive without her. Trust me."

Marigold gave him a quick kiss before she left with Alice. They returned at lunch and found Sirius hanging from the ceiling, shooting sparks at unsuspecting Gryffindors, of course when they looked up they saw nothing. Sirius grinned at Marigold and Alice, and the girls realised that he had cased a spell over himself, making him invisible to everyone, except his friends.

Marigold grinned, "Oi, Sirius stop annoying everyone and come to lunch."

"Okay."

People stared as Sirius dropped to the floor, a huge grin on his face.

"Your lucky Lily's not here, she'd kill you for what you've been doing."

"Yeah, she would. How is she anyway?"

Alice shrugged, "All right."

"Did she recognise you?"

"Yes she did. I think her memory is starting to return, but...I er I don't think she can quite remember everything yet."

"You mean she still has no idea who James is?"

"No, not yet." Marigold chewed her lip, "I er I don't think we should tell James about that though. We should try to keep him away until she can remember him."

"Humm, good idea."

"Hey," Mary sat up suddenly. "You don't think Snape zapped her with a memory charm do you? I mean she can't remember anything about James."

"No, a memory charm would knock her unconscious for almost a month." Remus thought for a second, "Also I don't think that Snivelus would be able to perform two spells at once. None of us are that powerful."

"That is true." Marigold sighed.

The portrait hole opened and James appeared. Immediately Marigold turned to Mary and Alica and started talking about some work they had gotten.

Sirius however grinned at his friend, "Prongs! How are you? Did you have fun in your detention?"

James glared at Sirius, "No Padfoot I didn't. Are you guys hungry?"

"YES!" Sirius yelled jumping up. "Come on Goldie, lunch time!" he dragged Marigold to her feet and out of the common room.

Remus sighed, "Ahh, lunch time. Come on guys lets not leave Marigold to a fate she doesn't deserve."

The group laughed and got to their feet, following their mad friend and his girlfriend out the room. For the rest of the day James found himself surrounded by his friends and being dragged around by them. He complained saying that he wanted to see Lily, but Sirius just flick his wand at him and James was hanging in the air by his ankle.

"Padfoot put me down!" James yelled angrily.

Sirius grinned, "No can do Prongs. We have to go to Hogsmead and no matter what you say your coming with us."

* * *

It wasn't just the Marauders who were stopping James, it was Lily's friends too. By Sunday James had never felt as close killing anyone as he did then. Somehow he managed to escape them during the rush for lunch, and dashed up to the Hospital Wing. After a long discussion with Madame Pomfrey, James finally managed to get into the ward where Lily was lying. As soon as he stepped into the room he noticed that Lily was asleep. Her hair was curly and slightly dirty, from the weeks that it hadn't been washed, but James didn't care, to him Lily was the prettiest girl in the world no matter what she looked like. His hand slipped towards her face and stroked it gently. Lily jerked away and sat bolt upright, her eyes whizzing round the room, before they fell on James.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

James' heart sank, when her heard her and was hardly able to reply, "I'm James Potter, the head boy."

Lily stared at him, "And I'm the head girl?"

James nodded, "Yes, it was your birthday only a few days ago, your seventeen."

"Really? I'm of age?"

"Yes Lils you are."

They were silent for a minute or two before Lily spoke again.

"If your the head boy and I'm the head girl, how come I can't remember ever seeing you?"

"I don't know Lils, but do you remember how you came here?"

"No, I woke up in St Mungo's a few days ago, with all-" she stopped suddenly. "You came to see me when I first woke up. I remember, you said we were going out."

"Yes I did, but-"

"Why did you say that?"

James bit his lip, "Because its true Lils, but I wont force you to be with me if you can't remember me."

"How did I end up like this?"

"Someone attacked you because they found out about something."

"What was that something?"

"That we were going out."

Lily glared at him, "I don't know who you are! How can we be going out? I don't ever want to see you again, even if you are head boy. Go away and never come back!"

James stared at Lily, his heart ready to brake, "Lily please don't tell me to go, try and remember me please try. I know you can, I know. Come on please!"

"No. Get out of here Potter. Now!"

James reeled back at Lily's use of his surname. She hadn't used it in a harsh way since the beginning of the year. At that point James realised that until Lily could remember who he was and what they were to each other, he couldn't see her. If he did it would probably kill him. Lily watched as James turned and left. Her eyes studied the somewhat familiar way his hair looked and how he walked. She struggled to get passed the barrier in her mind that blocked images and memories from her, but failed. The barrier was strong and nothing could penetrate it. She sighed, James Potter. Who was he? She reached over to her bedside table and pulled out the question sheet that one of the healers had given her. She had only managed to answer four of the questions and now she wasn't even sure if one of them was right. Sighing she looked down the sheet again.

_1. What is your full name?_

_2. Where do you live?_

_3. How many people are in your family?_

_4. What are their names?_

_5. Where do you go to school?_

_6. What are the names of your friends?_

_7. What classes do you take at school?_

_8. Who teaches them?_

_9. When is your birthday?_

Lily stopped when she read that question. What had James said? Her birthday had been only a few days ago, and she was seventeen. She chewed her pencil, and looked at the sixth question. Who are your friends? She had written down three names;Marigold, Alice and Mary. But now there was that slither of doubt in her mind. Was James one of her friends or not?

The door of her room opened and Madame Pomfrey came in, carrying a tray of food. The matron said nothing about James' visit, she just smiled, "Well Miss Evans feeling better now?"

Lily nodded slowly, "Madame Pomfrey, was that boy, er James telling the truth? Are we really together?"

The matron eyed Lily for a second, "From what I understand Miss Evans you are, but if you can't remember him then in your mind you're not. Now how far have you got on that questionnaire?"

"Only done four questions, but I think one of them is wrong."

Madame Pomfrey glanced down at the sheet and noted the number of questions that were still unanswered. She left Lily and went to find Marigold or one of Lily's other friends. She found them sitting in the Great Hall.

"Miss Lucas!"

Marigold looked up, "Madame Pomfrey! Is Lily okay?"

"Yes, yes she's perfectly fine. I was wondering, do you have any pictures of Mr Potter or any of his friends?"

"Um, yes I think I do. Why?"

"I think that Miss Evans needs objects to jolt her mind. It seems to me as if she also can't remember any of the Marauders, so I think she needs thing that remind her of them."

Marigold nodded, "Okay, shall I bring them by later?"

"Yes as soon as possible. Oh and one of you might want to go and find Mr Potter, he was in the Hospital Wing just now and I think he had a bit of a hard time."

The Matron turned and left. Sirius immediately jumped up, "I'll go speak to him. I know where he is. See you guys later."

The Gryffindors watched him go, before the spoke again.

"I think we failed at our task." Alice stated.

"Agreed." Marigold sighed.

"Well we can't do nothing about that now. All we have to do is keep James from doing something stupid." Frank said, picking up his knife.

"Don't worry, Sirius knows where he is and will stop him from doing anything he regrets." Remus said confidently.

"I hope your right." Mary stood, grabbing her bag, "I'm off, see you later."

"Bye!" Marigold called, hardly paying attention to her as she left. "Come on Alice we better get some of Lily's possessions."

Alice nodded, "Is there anything we can get from your dorm Remus to help Lily?"

Remus thought for a second then nodded, "I think maybe the picture that Lily gave James for Christmas would be a good idea."

"Humm, good idea. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Jane has a picture of Lily and James together at the New Years party and one of all of us together."

"Hey Alice take a picture of the two of us at my house at Christmas." Frank called as she and Marigold got up.

"Will do, see you soon." she kissed his cheek and left with Marigold following.

The girls headed up to their dorm and collected a few items that they hoped would help Lily. After they had done that they went to the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey allowed them in to see Lily.

The girl looked up as they came in and smiled, "Hey guys! What are you doing here? And where's Mary?"

"She had some work to do. How are you doing?"

Lily shrugged, "Better. Hey do you know someone called um, er wait I'll have it in a minute." Lily was silent for a few seconds while she though, "Oh, I can't remember his name, but he's the um the head boy."

"You mean James?"

"Yes! That's it, James. James Potter? Yes that was it James Potter."

"What about James?"

"He came to visit me."

"Oh, yeah we know about that."

"You do?" Lily asked confused.

Alice nodded, "Oh yes, we were talking about him just now. Anyway never mind about that. We bought you some things."

"Ooh, what?"

"Well, they're things that Madame Pomfrey thought you should have."

"And they are?"

"Some pictures of all your friends."

Marigold slowly started to place the frames on Lily's night stand. Lily's eyes watched each picture carefully, then started when she saw the picture of James and herself at New Years. Lily took the picture and stroked James' face gently.

"James, James Potter. Who are you?" she whispered quietly. She shook her head, placing the picture back. "Why did you bring these?"

"Because Madame Pomfrey wanted you to have some things for comfort."

"So you brought a picture of me and some _boy_ who I don't even know. Seriously? What were you thinking?"

Marigold and Alice looked at each other, then Marigold sighed, "As we said before, Madame Pomfrey wanted items that would comfort you."

"But I still don't understand it, why bring the picture?"

"Because you are friends with James, Lily. Friends and much more than friends, you just can't remember it."

Lily stared at Marigold in silence. When she didn't say anything else Marigold stood, "We'll see you later Lily. Just look at the pictures and try to remember, because your hurting James more than you know."

Marigold and Alice turned and left.

"Do you think we were to hard on her?" Marigold asked suddenly as they walked towards their next lesson.

Alice shrugged, "I'm not really sure, but if we were then it will be good for her. She needs to remember things and what you said should help her."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Marigold sighed. "This really sucks."

"Agreed. But at least we've tried."

They stopped talking as they stepped into the classroom, Sirius looked up when they came in, wanting to know where they had been.

"Have you been with Lily?" he mouthed.

Marigold gave him one small nod, then glanced at James, "Is he okay?"

Sirius raised his shoulders in a shrug, then turned hurriedly back to his work as the teacher approached. For the rest of the lesson they made no move to communicate and when it was finally over Marigold grabbed Sirius' arm and dragged him off. James watched them go, then turned.

"Hey Prongs. Where are you going?" Remus called.

"To see Lily."

Alice's head shot up, "Er James do you think that's a good idea? I mean she can't-"

But Alice's words were not heard as James was already disappearing round the corner, and out of sight.

* * *

Five minutes later James arrived at the Hospital Wing, quietly slipped passed Madame Pomfrey's office and into Lily's ward. This time Lily was awake, and seemed to be waiting for him.

"I thought you'd come."

James started, "What do you mean?"

"I think your the type of person who never gives up. You'll just keep coming back, no matter what. Am I right?"

"Maybe." James smiled slightly. "Everything I am will be up to your imagination"

"So, I could say that your head of the Quiddich team, and that your the Seeker?"

James' breath caught in his mouth, when he heard those words, but somehow he managed to say, "Yeah, if you want to."

Lily nodded, "Good, then that's what you are."

"One question, how did you decide that I would um-"

"Why did I say what I just did?"

James nodded, "Yes."

Lily indicated to the pictures beside her. James glanced at them and saw one of himself and Marigold in their Quiddich robes laughing and smiling. There was a small badge on James' robes that told everyone he was Quiddich captain.

"Why did you choose me a Seeker?"

Lily shrugged, "I just thought that it seemed more like you. I don't know why...but I just did..."

her voice trailed off and there was silence between them.

"How er, how much do you remember Lils er I mean Lily?"

"Not much," Lily sighed, "Don't start telling me things that I need to remember because they'll mean nothing, I'm sorry."

James ran a hand through his hair, "You don't remember anything that happened before Christmas do you?"

"A little bit."

"Really?" James looked hopeful.

"But not much, and not anything about New Years. Hey where did this picture come from?" Lily asked pointing to the one taken of them at the Potters New Years party.

James sighed and told her, Lily stared, "I can't remember any of that. Why can't I remember anything?"

James didn't answer he just looked into the red head's face, and what he saw there tugged at his heart strings. Suddenly he got to his feet, "I'm sorry, Lily, but I have to go." he mumbled as he rushed from the room. Long after he had gone, Lily held the picture in her hands and whispered again, "Why can't I remember?"

* * *

James ran, ran faster than he did when he was a stag, away from the girl who was unconsciously hurting him so much. When he finally stopped he found himself outside a secret passage way that led right up to his dorm. Without a second glance round to see if anyone was nearby, James pressed one hand to the cool, smooth stone. A section of the wall slid back and James slipped inside. He emerged from a trap door under Remus's bed. Luckily none of his friends were in as he scrambled out. He threw himself onto his bed, as the tears began to fall. That was how Sirius found him ten minutes later, when he came up to get his Charms book.

"Prongs?" he asked cautiously, "Prongs are you okay?"

"No." his voice was muffled as he kept his head in his pillow.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No."

Sirius grinned, "Well hard luck, Prongs, because I'll force you to tell me."

James raised his head, "Go away Padfoot, I don't want to talk about it."

Sirius was silent for a minute as he studied his friend, "You went to see Lily-Petal again didn't you?"

James nodded, "Yeah I did."

"And, what did she say? Does she remember anything?"

"No, but she does know that I'm Quiddich captain."

"That's good, though isn't it?"

"I suppose, but she only knew that because of the photos but-"

"But what?" Sirius pressed as gently as his nature would allow.

"I said that I could be what ever she wanted me to be."

"And what did she say you were?"

"She said I was the Seeker."

"But that's great Prongs! She's remembering, not everything no, but small snippets. Her memory's coming back, surly you can see that?"

"No, its not. She just got lucky, when she chose that position."

"Are you sure?"

James shook his head, "No, but that's just what I think."

Sirius sighed, "Look Prongs I know you don't believe us when we say this, but she will remember you. She will remember the The Marauders and everything she has done with you."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Prongs I am. We just need to wait. Promise. Now are you coming down with me or hiding up here?"

"I suppose I'll come downstairs."

James pulled himself off the bed and followed Sirius down to the common room, where they found Remus, Peter and Frank.

* * *

Whilst the boys were in the common room, the girls had gone to see Lily. This time Madame Pomfrey didn't care how many people visited, so all three were able to get in. Lily was still looking at the picture of herself and James. She looked up when they came in.

"Mari," she whispered in a horse voice, "Mari, how come I can't remember things?"

Marigold watched her friend carefully as she replied, "Lils you've been unconscious for nearly a month. Your not going to remember things when your brain hasn't been working for ages."

"So I'll remember soon?" Lily's lips trembled and Marigold leaned forwards, pulling Lily into a hug.

"Yes Lily, you will. I know you will, it will take time but it will come back."

Lily looked up at her best friend, "You promise?"

"I promise." Marigold whispered, holding Lily tighter with one hand and stroking her hair with the other. "I promise."

Finally they pulled away from each other, and Lily whispered, "Tell me, tell me everything that I have forgotten."

Marigold sighed, and glanced at Alice and Mary standing behind her. They gave slight nods, pulled out chairs and sat down. Marigold settled at the edge of the bed, and between the three of them told Lily everything that she had forgotten. The one thing they missed out was James. Nothing about him was said, and nothing would have been said if Lily hadn't suddenly asked about him. The girls paused, and Lily repeated herself.

"Who is James Potter? Come on tell me."

"He's the head boy."

Lily rolled her eyes, "I know that, tell me something I don't know."

Marigold sighed again, opened her mouth but another voice came over her own.

"But Madame Pomfrey, she's awake, I know she is. Please let me see her."

"Tell me why Mr Snape. Tell me. Do you really think Miss Evans would want to see the person who attacked her."

"No, she probably wont but I want to see her. Please I...I have to say I'm sorry."

"Severus!" Lily called out, her eyes alight with happiness. She turned to her friends, "Severus is outside. Mari I want to see him, go get him please."

"Um Lily you do remember what Snivelus did to you don't you?"

"Did to me? No should I?"

"Lily he's the reason your in here. He tried to attack-" Marigold stopped, "He's the reason your in here." she whispered quietly.

Lily's eyes widened and became unfocused. The door burst open and Severus appeared. Immediately Marigold marched towards him, "Get out! Lily doesn't want you here."

Snape stood his ground, "She called my name out just now, I heard her."

"Yes, maybe she did. But now she knows why she's in here. She wants you to get out."

"Tough then, because I'm not going!" Snape glared at Marigold.

"Snivelus your a rotten little bastard."

"Miss Lucas!"

Marigold turned. Madame Pomfrey was standing at the door staring at Marigold in shock.

"Miss Lucas I will not have that kind of language spoken here. You will have a detention tonight."

Marigold nodded, "Yes Madame Pomfrey."

"Come to my office at seven this evening. Now both you, your friends and Mr Snape must go. All this shouting will not be good for Miss Evans. So all of you out now!"

Unhappily the girls whispered their goodbye's to Lily, who was still daydreaming, and left. Severus took one look at Lily before he to left. Long after they had left her Lily was still staring into thin air. Her hands started to move with out her knowing and they picked up the picture of her and James. She brought it up to her face and her eyes flickered down to the boy in the picture. One tear slowly escaped her eyes and she pulled the picture to her chest.

"James." she whispered, "Oh James."

* * *

James was sitting in the common room, when a first year rushed in.

"James Potter?" the boy asked nervously.

James looked up, "Yes, the one and only."

"Um, Madame Pomfrey, er would like you to um go to the Hospital Wing. She'd like you to hurry says its an emergency."

Even before the boy had finished, James was up out if his seat, and was dashing from the common room. The boy stared after him, with a confused look on my face.

"Don't worry about it, he's just worried about Lily." Alice said.

The boy nodded, then slowly slid away.

* * *

James paid no attention to anyone in the corridors as he ran to Lily. He almost knocked Professor Slughorn over as he went. He arrived breathless at the Hospital Wing a few minutes later. Madame Pomfrey was standing at the door of Lily's ward. She looked up as James appeared.

"Oh, Mr Potter, thank goodness. I think you should go see Miss Evans, she seems a little bit upset. Go straight in, go on."

The matron gestured towards the door, and James pushed open the door. Lily was curled up on her bed, clutching a picture to her chest crying. James hesitated, unsure suddenly whether Lily would want him there. While he hesitated he heard Lily's whispering voice.

"James, oh James."

As soon as he heard that all James' doubt washed from his mind, and he rushed forwards. "Lily!"

Lily's head shot up, and she stared at James, striding towards her. He came along side her bed and pulled her into his arms. Lily wrapped her arms tightly round his waist, burying her head into his shoulder.

"James I'm so sorry. So so sorry."

"I know Lils, I know."

"I remember, but I'm so sorry."

"It okay Lils, its okay." James whispered, stroking her hair gently.

"But its not." Lily pulled away from James, "But its not, James. I forgot you, I couldn't remember anything."

"That doesn't matter, Lils. You remember now, that's what's important." he stroked her cheek, with two fingers and whispered again, "That's what's important."

Lily looked up into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. She smiled, leant forwards and kissed him. The kiss lasted a long time, but finally James pulled away.

"Lils can I ask you something?"

"Yes, James anything."

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

James looked her in the eye, "Why did you save me? That spell was meant for me, not you. So why did you so it?"

"Because I love you James."

James' eyes widened, in shock, "What?" he finally managed to whisper.

"I love you James Potter, that's why I took that spell for you. I would do anything to protect you, even...I'd even die for you. Anything as long as your still alive."

James bowed his head for a second, "You would do that for me?"

"Yes James, I wou-"

Lily didn't get to finish as James started to kiss her. They pulled away a little breathless, and James took her into his arms again.

"I love you too Lils, and I'd do anything for you."


	25. Celebrations

AN/ Hey guys hope your all enjoying your last week of holidays, if your still on holiday. I hope your foot gets better LNDCrazygirl. Enjoy the story.

Celebrations

Lily was let out of the Hospital Wing a week later, after the healers had determined that she had regained her memory entirely. She and James stuck together like glue and all of The Marauders and Lily's friends ignored Severus. The day after she got out, was the day that Marigold, Alice and Sirius, had planned to hold Lily's party. All three were up early that morning, to get the decorations ready. It was James and Mary's job to keep Lily away from the common room until the evening. Mary insisted on going to Hogsmead, saying that she needed to buy something from Honeydukes. Lily only went with her after James had promised to spend some 'alone time' with her when she came back. It was almost eight o'clock by the time James pulled Lily along the corridor, to the Gryffindor common room. It was dark when they entered and Lily swore as she walked into a sofa.

"Shit! James can't we turn on the lights? Why are they off anyway?"

"Language Lily-Petal." a voice whispered beside her ear.

Lily was about to let out a scream, when she realised that the voice belonged to Sirius.

"Black, turn on these bloody lights right now."

Sirius chuckled, "If you insist sweet Lily."

"Black." Lily's voice sounded as if she was about to hit something. There was another chuckled from Sirius, then suddenly the lights were switched one. Lily blinked unaccustomed to the brightness.

"Happy Birthday!" the shout came from hundreds of voices. Lily stared round. The common room was unrecognisable; drapes of deep emerald green and ruby red hung over the walls with sparkling writing of _Happy Birthday Lily_. All the tables and chairs had been pushed to the sides and food and drink were spread over them.

James leant forwards, "And Lils? Are you ready to party?"

Lily didn't answer, she was in too much shock. Marigold came up grinning.

"Do you like it?"

Lily turned to face her, and finally managed to whisper, "I'm wearing jeans...not anything for a party."

Marigold rolled her eyes, "Is that the only thing you can say? How about 'Marigold your amazing and-"

"Mari, I would say that but I am currently more-"

"More concerned about what your wearing. I know." Marigold waved her wand at Lily, and suddenly she was wearing a short emerald green dress. "That better?"

Lily nodded, "Yes I suppose so, but there is-"

Marigold sighed, "Your hair I know." one more wave and Lily's hair was up in an elegant knot at the back of her head.

Lily grinned, "Thank you Mari! Its amazing."

"Hey I did things as well." Sirius complained.

Lily was about to reply, when a sixth year shouted out. "Hey can we start the party now or what?"

Marigold nodded, "Yeah sure, go for it Remus!" she called over to the young werewolf.

Remus flicked a switch and all the light went off, except for hundreds of fairy light that were strung across the ceiling. It gave the room a spooky and enchanting look. James grabbed Lily round the waist as music started.

"Can I have this dance Lils?"

"Course you can James."

James grinned and pulled Lily closer to him. After two dances Sirius insisted on taking James away, and Alice, Marigold and Mary joined Lily. They danced until their thirst drove them to the drinks table.

"Are there any drinks here that are non-alcoholic?" Lily asked.

"Sure, they're somewhere around." Mary shrugged.

"Oh come on Lils." Marigold sighed, "Your of age, and we're not gonna tell you where the other drinks are, so unless you want to die of thirst you'll have something on this table."

Lily reluctantly dragged her eyes over the table, seeing all sorts of magical and muggle drinks. Finally she picked up a glass of clear liquid.

Alice raised her eyebrows, "Do you think she know that's Vodka?" she whispered to Mary.

"No, probably thinks its Gin, or something."

"Hope she doesn't drink to much."

"Doesn't matter even if she does, its Sunday tomorrow, so she can nurse her hangover. Anyway are you coming to dance again?"

Alice nodded, "Yep, lets go."

It almost three in the morning when the door burst open and Professor McGonigal came in. By this time there were only a handful of people left, and most of them were seventh years. She glared at them.

"It is three in the morning and the noise you are making is unbelievable. I think its high time to stop the party and get to bed. Mr Potter!"

James looked up, "Yeeees Prosssesor?" slurring his words.

"I expect this common room to be clean by the morning, and I hope that for you sake that none of the lower years have had as much alcohol as you have."

When James didn't answer Professor McGonigal turned to Alice, only to find that she was almost unconscious. The teacher spun round again, spotted Lily, was about to speak when the red head flung herself at James, who failed to catch her and they both ended up on the floor laughing. Professor McGonigal gave up, at that point. If the most sensible girl in Gryffindor was drunk there wouldn't be any hope for the others. With a sigh she went out, hoping that her instructions had been heard. Lily and James finally pulled themselves off the floor and disappeared into a corner. Sirius and Marigold had taken over a table and Frank was trying to get Alice up the girls staircase only to keep sliding down the slid. Mary and Remus were sitting in the middle of the floor, clutching bottles of beer singing along to the music, that was still playing. None of them had paid attention to Professor McGonigal, and James had not even heard what she had said. It was only when one of the fifth years came down to see what was going on, that the party finally ended. Somehow all the teens managed to get to bed, even if it wasn't the right bed.

* * *

Lily groaned and rolled over, only to fall off the bed with a loud bump. She slowly stumbled to her feet, pulled back the sheets and screamed when she saw an arm. Taking a second look, Lily realised that the arm hadn't been cut off, but that it belonged to James. She sat on the edge of the bed and pushed at James.

"Budge over Potter." she moaned. James didn't move so Lily gave up and just slid back in beside him, closing her eyes. A second later they shot open again. What was she wearing?

"James," Lily poked him, "James wake up."

"Muurpphh, wasup?" James' voice was heavy with sleep.

"What am I wearing?"

There was no reply as James had once again fallen asleep. Lily tried again to wake him up, but after being unsuccessful, decided that she to would go back to sleep. She woke a few hours later, to find James' arms wrapped round her. Carefully Lily extracted herself from his grasp and wondered over to the bathroom. Only once she was in there did she remember, the big question that she had asked James hours earlier. She stormed out of the bathroom, "James! James! James for goodness sake wake up."

James rolled over to face her and opened one bleary eye, "What?"

"What am I wearing?"

He yawned, "How should I know."

"James look at me and tell me what I am wearing."

James sighed, forced his eyes open and looked at Lily, "Um, whoa!" James sat up suddenly, then fell back down. "Lils why are you in your underwear?"

"That's what I want to know. What are you wearing? Can you tell me that?"

James stared at Lily for a second then lifted the duvet, "Oh."

"What?"

"I'm wearing boxers."

Lily nodded, "Why? Why are you wearing boxers and why am I in my bra and pants?"

James shrugged, "Uhh, because your in my dorm and didn't have pyjamas with you."

"Okay I suppose that works, but you er don't think we er _did_ anything do you?"

"I can't actually remember, I think I was too drunk."

"But you don't think-"

"No Lily I don't. Number one, if we did then we wouldn't be wearing our clothes, and number two Sirius and Marigold would not be sleeping in the next bed if we did."

For the first time Lily glanced round the rest of the room, and saw that all three beds were being slept in, Sirius' had a bigger bulge than the others.

"So nothing happened?"

"I don't think so." James sighed and stood up, stretching. "Ahh come on lets go down and see if we can get some food."

"Um, James."

"Yes."

"I kinda need some clothes. I can't go to the common room like this."

James looked Lily up and down, then grinned, "I don't see why not."

"James." the warning in Lily's voice told James that she didn't like that idea. James sighed and went to his trunk and started to rummage through. Finally he pulled out a pair of tracksuit bottoms and an old sweater.

"This okay?"

Lily nodded, "Yep." she pulled the clothes on then put a hand to her head, "James I think we need to get some of that hangover stuff."

James laughed, grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her out of the room. They didn't get further that the bottom of the boys staircase.

"Mr Potter! Miss Evans!"

Lily and James winced at the loudness of Professor McGonigal's shout.

"Yes Professor?" Lily asked.

"Why is the common room looking like this?"

They glanced round and their mouths dropped open with astonishment. "We did this last night?" James asked.

Professor McGonigal nodded, "Yes, and I remember asking you to clean it all up, yet it is past midday and nothing has been done."

"Well er."

"Well what?"

"Professor we have only just got up." Lily stepped in before James landed himself a detention.

"Yes I can see that. Get this cleaned up." she turned, "Before I come back."

"We'll never get all this away." James moaned once Professor McGonigal had left.

Lily shook her head, grabbing a wand from a passing third year, "James we do live in a world full of magic and unless I'm mistaken you are a wizard."

"Oh yeah."

James watched as Lily flicked the wand at the mess and a second later the common room was spotless.

"Right, come on James, I need to get this hangover stuff, before my head splits."

James grinned, "Okay lets go Lils."

They came back twenty minutes later to find the common room redecorated. Marigold and Sirius were waving their wands all over the place.

"What are we celebrating now?" Lily asked with curiosity.

"We're having another party for you."

"For me? Why? You gave me a birthday party yesterday."

Marigold rolled her eyes, "I know that Lily, this is to celebrate your return to us."

"Couldn't we have done that yesterday as well?"

"Yes, but it more fun this way."

James grinned, "When does it start Goldie?"

"Soon as Lily's ready. There's a dress waiting for you on James' bed, together with everything else you need."

"Mari?"

"Yess?"

"Is there any alcohol?"

"Um, there was going to be but then it was all drunk yesterday. So we're sticking to Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice."

"Good, oh by the way, what was in that glass last night?"

"Oh it was Vodka, we had Muggle and Magical drinks last night. Anyway get going, we're not gonna wait for ever."

Lily laughed and dashed up the stairs. James stayed behind to help put up the rest of the decorations. Lily was down less than ten minutes later, having showered and put on the dress Marigold had set out for her. This time the party was much more relaxed, with slow songs and no alcohol. Lily was the centre of attention again which she hated. She was continuously trying to hide in corners or behind James.

"Lily!" James laughed, grabbing her hand, "Stop trying to hide, its a party for you."

"I know but that doesn't mean that I have to like it."

James laughed again, and kissed Lily's hair, "Come on Lils, come dance with me."

He lead her onto the floor and started to spin her slowly. Professor McGonigal came in just as the song finished. She didn't have time to speak as Sirius jumped on her.

"Minerva! Finally. Come I have waited till you came to have this song."

He grabbed Professor McGonigal and pulled her into the throng of students. Finally the teacher managed to get away from Sirius and made her way over to Lily and James.

"Mr Potter, I understand that at times it is hard, but can you please try and keep Mr Black under control?"

"Yes Professor."

"Now can you tell me what is going on? I thought the party had finished this morning."

"It did, but Goldie wanted to celebrate the fact that Lily had returned."

"And that couldn't have been done yesterday?"

"Not for Goldie."

"By 'Goldie' I'm assuming you mean Miss Lucas?"

James nodded, "Yes Professor I do."

The teacher pursed her lips, "Well may I then ask the two of you to make sure that this party doesn't not continue past four pm?"

"You can count on us Professor."

"Humm, yes well lets see about that shall we. Now Miss Evans tomorrow you shall return to lessons but not the full work load."

"Oh but Professor, the NEWTs are-"

"I am well aware that your NEWTs are coming up, but these are instructions from the healers at St Mungo's, so you _will_ be doing what they say, is that understood?"

Lily sighed, "Yes Professor."

"Good, well then remember what I said and make sure the common room is clean before you go to bed."

"Yes Professor." Lily repeated.

Professor McGonigal suddenly smiled at them, then turned and left. Lily glanced at her watch, and saw that they only had twenty minutes before the party had to finish. When she mentioned it James groaned, "Aghh, I bet McGonigal knew that before she gave us that time."

"Yeah, she probably did, but then again some of us were up quite late, and almost half of us must have gotten hangovers this morning."

James shrugged, "I suppose, and some of us have work still to do."

"You still have work to do! Oh James why did you leave it so late?"

James shrugged, "Don't know, but I'll tell you one thing. Whist you were away I took double sets of notes so, you can start learning what you missed immediately."

Lily threw her arms around James, "Thank-you! Thank-you James."

James grinned, "Well I'm glad you're so happy about that. Now do you er think we could go back up to my dorm, for a while whist everyone's busy down here?"

Lily spotted the glint in James' eyes, and copied his grin, "Oh I think so, we just need to tell Mari and Black about the time limit."

"Yes!" James whispered under his breath, as they hurried towards their friends and then up to the dorm.


	26. Time To Tell?

AN/ Okay for those of you wondering why you have two emails it is because after putting the chapter up for the first time, a few readers were not to happy about the ending so I decided to change it. I hope you are now all happy with it and enjoy the read.

Time To Tell?

Monday past quickly and by the end of the week Lily felt as if she had never been gone. Students stopped Lily in the corridor and asked if she was okay and what had happened. Lily answered them politely but refused to tell them how she had ended up in the Hospital. Severus did try to speak to Lily, but he was continuously being stopped by James and the other Marauders. Even when he did manage to slip passed them, Lily refused to speak to him. In the end Severus gave up, and kept himself to himself.

* * *

Two weeks into February the full moon came. Remus got paler and paler until the day came where he was escorted to the Womping Willow by Madame Pomfrey. The Maruaders spent the evening with their girlfriends and their friends. Lily slipped away early to finish off reading James' notes, and later her friends joined her. The Marauders stayed in the common room, until they were sure that the girls were not going to reappear, before they to went up to their dorm.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." James muttered pointing his wand at the map.

"Oohh, look Slughorn's wondering the corridors. Looks like we'll be using the cloak."

"We always use the cloak, Wormtail." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You two do, I'm never allowed to."

"That's because your animagus is small enough to go unnoticed, and also some students have pet rats, so if your seen that's what they'll think you are." James pointed out.

Peter turned away muttering something about how he shouldn't have become a rat. Sirius and James ignored him as they plotted their path, down to the Womping Willow, and to Remus. As soon as they had done that, James grabbed the cloak from the bottom of his trunk and he and Sirius slipped underneath it. Peter transformed so that he could sit on Sirius' shoulder until they were out of the common room. It was only a few minutes after the Marauders had left, that Lily left her dorm to go ask James about something in the notes. When she reached the door, she knocked gently before letting herself in.

"James? James are you in here?" Lily glanced round the empty room. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a piece of paper on James' bed. She went over a picked up the paper and nearly dropped it. It was a map Hogwarts! What were the Marauders doing with it? Suddenly Lily understood how the boys were able to slip in and out of school without being noticed. The map showed all the secret passageways and hideouts. Lily traced the corridors with her finger until she saw something that made her blood run cold. James, Sirius and Peter were all down in the entrance hall, heading towards the grounds. Curious Lily continued to watch as they slipped out of the front door and started towards the Womping Willow. Her eyes opened wide as their names disappeared off the map beneath the massive tree. _There must be a passage way under there that takes them to Remus. Oh no Remus! He's changing tonight. What in the name of Merlin do they want down there? _Lily stood where she was for a second unsure of what to do, before she grabbed the map and hurried from the room. Although she was Head Girl, it was late enough that if she was found, she couldn't brush it off as doing rounds. She followed the map and thankfully made it out into the grounds with out being caught. As soon as she was out of sight from the school, she pulled out her wand.

"Lumos!" she whispered, and the tip of her wand lit up. With the help the the light Lily made her way to the tree. She slipped into the bushes that surrounded it and settled down to wait, extinguishing the light. A noise came from the tree, and Lily sat up, her eyes still getting accustomed to the dark. Then a stag appeared, closely followed by a big black dog and then Remus in his werewolf form. There was a tiny squeak, and Lily spotted a rat, sitting on top of on of the roots. The three animals turned to look at the rat then slowly moved away from the tree, closer to the forest. The rat jumped off the root and immediately the branches started to move, the rat dodged two of the flying branches before he got out of range. Only once the rat had joined them did the rest of the animals move. Lily stared after them then looked down at the map, and back at the animals.

"Stupid map." she muttered, "You must be wrong." For the map told her that she was looking at James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Suddenly Lily's head shot up again, to the disappearing into the distance, the stag, the dog and the rat. Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail. They were animagus'. They had broken the law and were running round the woods, with a werewolf. Lily jumped to her feet and retraced her tracks to the common room. Once there she threw herself down into one of the arm chairs, going through everything again in her mind. _Okay so, all the Marauders can change into animals, they're all illegal animagus', and they run around once a month with a werewolf. What are you going to do? Tell on them? No! No I can't do that. Oh God, why did I have to find out about this? What shall I say to James when I see him? I wonder why he didn't tell me? I should ask him._

Lily pulled herself away from her thoughts and wondered over to a window. The clouds had parted showing the full moon shining brightly on the grounds and down onto the Black Lake. Lily started to get a sense deja vu, as she remembered the dream she had had at the beginning of term. She shuddered, although she wasn't cold. She still didn't know what to say to James. Lily glanced back down at the map, and started to lift the little flaps, discovering parts of the castle she hadn't seen before. Before long she fell asleep, and dreamed of sitting on the back of a shiny brown stag, running through the forest, a black dog, a werewolf and a rat behind them. She woke with a start, eyes swinging round the room, before glancing at her watch. 2 am. _They must be back soon,_ Lily thought, scanning the map for their names. Then she spotted them. They had just started up the staircase. Lily frowned, she knew now what she was going to tell James. She walked back over to the window, looking again up to the full moon. She was still standing there when the portrait hole swung open and James, Sirius and Peter came in. Lily didn't turn around, she could see what the boys were doing in the map, that was laying in front of her. James and Sirius had turned towards the staircase, when Peter pocked them.

"Oi Prongs, Padfoot."

"What?" Sirius hissed annoyed.

"Lily's standing by the window."

They all spun round, and Sirius took a step forwards, only to be blocked by an arm. He looked up at James.

"I'll go." he muttered.

Lily watched as James came towards her, and only acknowledged him when he had slipped his arms around her waist.

"Guess who Lily-Petal?" he whispered, smiling at Lily though the reflection in the glass. Lily lifted her eyes to the reflection of his and seeing the anger in them took a step back, releasing her.

"Lils? What's wrong?"

Lily turned to face him, map in hand, "This is what's wrong."

James stared at the map, "Where did you get that from?"

"Your room, when I went to ask you something yesterday evening."

James gulped and glanced back towards Sirius and Peter. The two boys were watching the proceedings carefully, but weren't going to help James out of the situation he was in.

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Why weren't you in your room? And why have you only just come back?"

"We went to the village to-"

"Don't lie to me James Potter! You, Black and Pettigrew were in the forest. I saw it on the map."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Because I was hoping that you would tell me the truth."

"Wait you saw us go into the forest?" James' voice had a hit of panic to it, and Sirius and Peter had now moved forward.

Lily nodded, "Yes, I saw you go into the forest."

"And er did you..."

"Did I see anything strange? Well yes I did, I saw a stag, a dog and a rat. Can you explain that to me Potter?"

"Yes I can. There are loads of animals living in the forest so that's where the the stag came from, the dog is probably a stray and the rat." James shrugged, "Well its a rat Lils and-"

"What did I tell you about lies Potter?" Lily snapped.

"I..." James stopped, then looked at Lily, "You want to know the truth?"

Lily glared at him, "Yes Potter I do."

James sighed and turned to his friends, "We have to tell her."

Sirius nodded, "Yeah she obviously saw us as we were leaving the tree."

"Okay," James faced Lily, "Lils we're all animaguses."

"That's better." Lily still sounded angry, "Now tell me why? Why do you three go running around the forest with a werewolf?"

"Lils its not any old werewolf, its Remus, and he is our friend."

"But why do you let him run around the forest? If he gets away from you or Black then he could go to Hogsmead or the school."

"He wouldn't run away from us Lils, and anyway Sirius and I can handle him."

"But why let him run around free? Why not keep him where ever he stays?"

"Because he stays in the Shreaking Shack, in the small upstairs room. When he's alone, he does horrible things to himself. When we found out about that we couldn't leave him alone. He'd go crazy."

"So you think it's better to have him running round, in danger of hurting someone?"

"He wouldn't hurt anyone, because Sirius and I wouldn't let him get away from us. Lils can't you understand why we did this?"

Lily sighed, "Yes James I can, but your putting your life at risk, for a werewolf. And it doesn't matter if the werewolf is Remus. The fact remains that werewolf are dangerous, and it doesn't matter who the person is inside."

"So you think that Remus is a monster?"

"No James. I think that Remus is a great, good person, who just happens to become a werewolf once a month. I just can't understand how you could risk your life-"

"Because he's our friend Lily, do you get that?" James nearly shouted.

"Yes James I do. I would do anything for my friends."

"Then why can't you understand why I'm doing this?"

"Because-"

"Because of what Lily? If you would anything for your friends then you should understand why I'm doing this."

Lily was silent, whilst she and James faced each other. Then she threw the map at him, and walked passed up to her dorm. James stared after her, then looked down at the map.

"I forgot to wipe it." he whispered. "If I had done that then-"

"Then what Prongs?" Sirius asked gently, "Mate all three of us forgot to wipe it, and the girls would have found out at some point."

"Yeah, but Lily shouldn't have found out like this."

"Agreed. What I'm wondering is how she knew what animals we were."

"Uh, Padfoot I think she might have seen us as we were leaving the tree, with Moony. And Lily's not an idiot, she must have realised what our names mean. "

Sirius shrugged, "Maybe, but I'm to tired to think of anything else right now, come on lets go to bed."

James sighed and unhappily followed his friends up to bed. James found it hard to get to sleep and he ended up sitting in the common room doing some work. He was still there at seven o'clock when the first few Gryffindors got up. James was waiting for Lily and hoped that she would be down before he went to get dressed. This time however it seemed as if luck was on his side. Shortly after twenty past seven, Lily and the rest of her friends appeared. Lily looked as if she had got a whole nights sleep, and not at all like she had been up in the middle of the night. She walked straight passed James without paying attention to him.

"Uh Lily?" Marigold glanced at James.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your boyfriend?"

"Nope. Are you coming or what? I'm hungry."

"Lily-"

Lily spun to face her friend, "Mari, I don't want to talk about what has happened and I'm not going to tell you. Now are you coming to breakfast?"

Marigold nodded, "Yeah, I'll come. See you later James."

James watched them go, then went up to his dorm, where the boys were awake and almost ready. Lily refused to talk or be anywhere near James and the rest of the Marauders during lessons and meal times, which meant that Marigold and Sirius were forced to sit apart. The students could tell that something was wrong between the two heads, and the fact that they weren't talking confirmed their doubts. Marigold finally managed to talk to Sirius during lunch when Lily had gone back to the common room.

"So why aren't Lily and James talking?"

Sirius shrugged, "I dunno. Why ask me?"

"Because Sirius your James' best friend."

"Am I? I didn't know that, awesome!" Sirius looked delighted.

Marigold rolled her eyes, "Come on Black stop stalling. Why aren't they talking?"

"Who isn't talking?" Remus asked sliding into the seat across from them.

"Lily and James." Marigold said shortly, "Sirius tell me why."

"They had a disagreement."

"When? They were fine last night."

"Well it happened last night. Lily-Petal came to ask James something and they had an argument." Sirius shrugged, "Hey Moons how are ya?"

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but Marigold got there first, "What did they argue about?"

"Don't actually know Goldie, I wasn't listening."

Marigold groaned, and got to her feet, "See you guys later."

As soon as she had gone Remus turned to Sirius, "What was it about?"

"Lily-Petal found out about Prongs, Wormtail and myself."

"What did she say?"

"Um something about it being dangerous running round with you."

"Ah ha! See I'm not the only person who thinks that. You really should listen to me sometime Padfoot."

Sirius shrugged, "Your our friend Moons, we'd do anything for you, and coincidently that's what Prongs told Lily-Petal."

"And what was her answer."

Sirius eyes Remus for a moment then his eyes fluttered to the table, "You don't wanna know, Moons."

"Yes Padfoot I do."

Sirius jumped to his feet, "Then I'll tell you about it later, but first I think we need to get Prongs and Lily-Petal back together."

"Have they split up?"

"No, not officially, Lily-Petal's just ignoring him."

"I can't help you if I don't know what happened." Remus held his hand out, stopping Sirius in his tracks. Sirius sighed again, and told Remus everything that had happened the night previous evening.

"So," Sirius asked, once he had explained everything, "what should we do?"

"I suppose we make Lily understand why your doing this."

"But she says she does understand, and that she would do the same thing."

Remus shook his head, "No I think what she means is that she is willing to die for any of her friends."

"Then how is that different to us?"

"Your risking your life for me, and yes I know that is almost the same as dying, but Lily sees it differently. Imagine what Goldie would say if she found out?"

"Goldie would understand."

"And so does Lily, but she just doesn't approve of it."

"Then how are we going to get them talking again, Moony?"

Remus thought for a second, then shrugged, "No idea. I suggest we think on it and get the girls on it as well."

"Suppose. Do you think I should tell Goldie about me being a dog?"

"Yes, it might stop her from flipping out like Lily did. Tell her about yourself and tell her about me." Remus hesitated slightly at the last word, the nodded, "Yes tell her about me as well, then hopefully she'll be okay about it."

"And if she's not?" Sirius sounded worried.

"Then she's not worth it mate."

"But Prongs isn't giving up on Lily-Petal."

"Because Lily hasn't said that she _isn't _ okay with it, the only thing she's expressed is her unhappiness about you three running round with me."

"But we don't know what she thinks about you and the others." Sirius muttered sliding into his seat.

"So we find out." Remus hissed settling down opposite him, just as James hurried into the room, and sat down just as the lesson began.

"Hey Moony, you all right?"

Remus nodded, "Here Prongs, I heard about Lily."

"She'll get over it." James muttered, "She just has to see, that what we're doing is right."

"Mr Potter!" the teachers shrill voice cut across the classroom, and James looked up.

"Yes Professor?"

"Will you and your friends kindly stop talking, or do I have to give all three of you a detention?"

"No Professor."

"Good." the teacher turned back to the board, and James slouched back into his seat, eyes straying over to where Lily sat. The red head completely ignored James and rushed out of the classroom at the end of the lesson so as not to speak to him. James groaned and pulled out the map. After a quick scan he saw Lily's name on the third floor, together with Marigold and Alice. He sighed, there was no way he would be able to talk to Lily with her friends around. _But why would you want to talk to her James?_ whispered a voice in her head, _She doesn't want to speak to you now she knows where you go every full moon, she doesn't think that what your doing is right. _ James shook his head, then realised that the voice was right. Why should he be the one chasing after Lily, when she was the one who had to apologise? So to the surprise of his friends and of Lily and her friends James completely ignored her and didn't complain about her not speaking to him. Lily on the other hand was another matter.

* * *

"I don't believe it!" she yelled flinging her school bag onto her bed. "He is ignoring me! Me! His own girlfriend!"

"Oh so you are still going out."

Lily whirled and glared at Mary, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and James haven't spoken for almost a week, and none of us have actually spoken to any of the Marauders since you and James had that argument."

"You would have known if we had split up."

"Really? Because at the moment it looks like you aren't together, yet apparently you are."

"Oh shut up Mary." Lily turned away from her and looked at Alice, "Do you think that we look like we're still together."

Alice shook her head slowly, "No, everyone thinks you've split up, even the teachers."

"Well we haven't." sniffed Lily, throwing herself onto her bed. She lay there for a few seconds before she jumped up again. "This is ridiculous. I have to do rounds with him tonight, but I am _not _ going to go when he isn't talking to me."

"Oh for the love of Merlin Lily." Alice sighed, "Why don't you just apologise to him for what ever you argued about, then if you insist he will also say he's sorry."

Lily stared at her, "No way! Its not my fault we're like this, its his. And I'm not going to apologise till he does."

"Well then you'll be waiting a long time."

The girls turned to see Marigold standing in the door.

"What do you mean?" Lily demanded.

Marigold sighed, "Well James thinks that its your fault and is not going to apologise until you do."

"Why that little-"

"And Remus is doing the rounds with you tonight."

Lily stopped her ranting and looked at them, "Why is Remus doing it and not James?"

"Because James wants you to apologise to him before-" Marigold stopped, "Oh honestly Lily! James is your boyfriend, so can you please just get over this argument that you've had."

Lily shook her head, as she stood up, "No because Potter needs to say he's sorry to me first." she stormed from the room. In the common room she found Remus waiting for her by the portrait hole.

He smiled at her, "Hey Lily."

Lily barley acknowledged him, "Come on, we late."

Remus followed her out, remaining silent until he was certain that there was nobody near enough to hear them, before he spoke.

"I know what you and James argued about Lily."

Lily spun to look at him, "What?"

"I know what the argument was about, and you really should not blame him for what he's doing."

"Why shouldn't I? He's risking his life."

"For me, Lily. Look I-"

"I had this conversation with James the other night."

"Then you should understand where he is coming from."

"I do and I would do anything for my friends."

"Then what the problem Lily? Is it that James, Sirius and Peter are risking their lives to keep me company, so that I don't end up self-harming myself?"

"Remus I-"

"No! Listen to me Lily!" Remus turned to face her, his face wild with anger, "What James, Sirius and Peter are doing, not many other people would do. I don't want or like them doing it, because I don't know how much I hurt them when I am a wolf. They know that, yet they still stay beside me, even after I have inflicted a number of wounds on them. They would do anything for me Lily, and I know that you would do anything for your friends, so why can't you understand them?"

"Because-"

"Because what? Because you never thought that doing anything for your friends would mean that you might have to die for them?"

Lily stared at Remus for a long second then dropped her head, "I would die for any of my friends Remus, I even told that to James, but there's just something that I can't get, and I...I don't know why."

Remus softened slightly, "Its because you care about James, Lily. You care about him so much you wouldn't be able to bear it if he died protecting someone else. Right?"

Lily shrugged, "Maybe." she turned towards the window.

"Lily I think you should talk to James about it."

"How can I when he's ignoring me?"

"He tried to talk to you the day after the argument but apparently you didn't want to speak to him."

"Oh yeah."

"Look he's up in our dorm, go and see him, and try to sort all this out."

"But what about the rounds?"

"Oh I'll finish off the rounds, now go!" Remus gave her a shove, in the direction of the common room.

Lily grinned, "Thanks Remus." and hurried off.

* * *

"James?" Lily asked curiously opening the door to the dormitory. "James are you in here?"

"Lily!" James looked up and stared at her.

"James I have to talk to you." Lily walked forwards James opened his mouth to reply but Lily shook her head, "No don't say anything. Just let me speak. Okay so I'm sorry for what I said about Remus. I know he's not a monster and that he can't help what he is. I also know that what you, Sirius and Peter are doing is what anyone would do for their friend. The...the reason I had a problem with was because when he's a wolf Remus doesn't really know who you are and I was worried that one of you would get so badly hurt that you wouldn't be able to fix yourselves. As I said before hand what you do I would do for any of my friends, and I would die for them but I... I just could grasp the fact that you and the rest of The Marauders were running around at night and if Remus got away from you then who knows where he might go? Also the fact that your all illegal Animaguses and your breaking the law and...and." Lily stopped unsure of what else to say.

James got up and went to her, taking her hands, "Thank you. And I'm sorry for not trusting you enough to tell you about us."

Lily smiled, "That's okay. But seeing as I am going to let you go out every full moon you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Whenever you and Sirius go out, please be careful. I couldn't bear it if you or Sirius got hurt or died."

James smiled, "I promise Lily, but don't you care about Peter?"

Lily shrugged, "I don't know him that well, and he's a rat isn't he? So he can run away and hide for Remus if he has to."

"Okay. How about we don't tell him about that? Now are we back on speaking terms?"

Lily nodded, "Yes! Defiantly, I've hated every minute we haven't been speaking."

"Me to, and how about I promise to never keep a secret from you again?"

"I like that idea." Lily smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, "I promise also promise never to keep secrets from you either."

"Good." James smiled and kissed her.

After a while Lily and James left the dormitory and went down to the common room. Sirius jumped up when they came down and looked from one to another expectantly. James smiled at him, "Hey Pads. Lilly's inviting us round to her house for Easter. Are you going to come?"

Sirius' face lit up, "Are you back together?"

James nodded, "Yes we are. Now are you going to come?"

"Yes." Sirius grinned. "As long as Goldie can come."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Of course she's coming. She is my best friend."

"YAY!" Sirius' grin got bigger and he ran towards the portrait hole.

"He's crazy." Lily muttered and led James to a chair.

With Lily and James back together the weeks seemed to fly past and suddenly February was over and Easter was upon them.


	27. Easter Fun and Fury

AN/ Hey Guys, so I hope the change I made to the last chapter was okay and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Easter Fun and Fury

"LILY-PETAL!" Sirius yelled jumping down the stairs and almost squashing a second year. "LILY-PETAL!"

"WHAT!" Lily screamed back, glaring at the happy black haired boy.

"Is it true that we're going to yours this weekend?"

Lily nodded, "Yes, you, James, Remus, and the girls."

"Isn't Peter coming?"

"No, I asked but he didn't want to."

"What about Frank?"

"Oh yeah he's coming."

"Yay!" Sirius grinned, then suddenly the smile vanished, "Is your sister going to be there?"

"Yes Sirius, she is, her and her boyfriend."

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend."

Lily shrugged, "It never came up in any conversation, so I didn't think I should mention it."

"Oi Black."

Sirius turned to face his girlfriend, "Yes Goldie?"

"Have you packed yet? We're leaving in twenty minutes."

"WHAT! I though we were going at the weekend."

Marigold rolled her eyes, "Today is Friday and lessons have finished, so it is technically the weekend. Anyway have you packed?"

"No."

"Well go do it now."

"Aww do I have to?"

"Yes. Lily, James wants you to go and help him. He's worrying about what to bring, not knowing what your parents will think is acceptable."

Lily sighed, "Well couldn't you have told him what to pack?"

Marigold shook her head, "Nope cause he's even worrying about what colour boxers and socks to bring."

Lily laughed, "Okay, maybe it would be a good idea to help him."

"Goldie?"

"Yes Sirius?"

"Can you help me pack? I don't know whether I should-"

"Forget it Black. Now go pack, maybe Lily can help, but I'm not."

Sirius sighed unhappily, but got to his feet and slowly dragged himself back up to his dorm. Twenty minutes later Lily, James, Remus, Frank and all the girls were standing in the common room, waiting for Sirius.

"Are you sure he had finished packing?" Marigold asked.

James nodded, "Yep, his bag was full and he only had to close it when I left."

"James can you just go check on him please?" Lily asked, "We need to leave really soon."

James turned towards the stairs, but he hadn't even began to climb them when Marigold let out a yell.

"Sirius Black!"

"Goldie!" Sirius cried back happily, as he appeared from the portrait hole.

"Where have you been?"

"Talking to a ghost."

"Talking to a-" Marigold stopped, "Never mind. Anyway lets go. How we getting there Lily?"

"We're going to use the floo network to The Leaky Cauldron, and then we can either take a taxi to my house or go by bus and then have a little walk."

"Can't we just apparate?"

"No Black we can't. I live in a built up Muggle area, and they would notice if I suddenly turn up out of thin air, with a whole load of teenagers with me."

No one decided to say anything after that, although once in a while there was the odd complaint from Sirius. They used the fire place in Dumbledore's office, and arrived in small groups in the fire place of The Leaky Cauldron. After that Lily decided that they would catch a bus. This was a new experience for James, Sirius and Frank, who were all Purebloods. They clung to the bars and their seats with a terrified expression on their faces. Finally the the boys immense relief they got off the bus.

"Never ever take me on one of those things again." James told Lily as soon as they were safely on solid ground again.

Lily laughed, "Aww James, you have to get used to how Muggles travel, anyway bus rides are fun."

"It was quite funny." Alice also laughed.

"How come you weren't as freaked as we were?" Sirius challenged.

Alice laughed again, "Because I've already been on buses loads of times, and they're fine."

"Yeah well that's your view." muttered Frank.

The girls and Remus laughed again, and Lily shouldered her rucksack.

"Come on, its not far from here." she took James's hand and began to walk, with the others following her. They had been walking for about ten minutes when they turned a corner into a small street. Houses lined both sides, some looking slightly bigger than others. Lily set off down the street dragging James behind her. They had only got half way down when there came a yell.

"Lily!"

Lily spun round, to see a tall brown haired girl standing in a driveway they had just passed.

"Oh hey Meg." Lily faltered slightly. "How er how are you?"

The girl shrugged, "I'm all right, how are you? I haven't seen you since you left in September."

"Yeah, I stayed at a friends house for Christmas."

"Oh okay. So these are your friends?"

Lily nodded, "Yes, um this is James, Sirius, Remus and Frank. You know the others don't you?"

"Yes," Meg's voice was full of hate, "I remember them."

Lily started to move from one foot to another, as an awkward silence fell over them, until Meg spoke again.

"I was surprised that you didn't come to your sister wedding. I mean you may have been busy at school, but she's your sister and she's getting married."

Lily stared at her, "What? Petunia got married?"

Meg nodded, "Yeah, a few weeks ago, but she said you were busy at school as so couldn't come." she shrugged and a yell came from inside her house.

"Megan! Dinner's ready!"

"Coming Mum!" Meg called back, and turned to Lily, "See you around Lily, if you still have time for your old friend." with that she disappeared.

"Humm, I think she's got meaner." Marigold mused as Lily resumed walking.

"She didn't seem very happy to see you Lils." James stated, "Um Lils? What's up?"

Lily had released James' hand and was now power-walking down the street.

"No, I'm not okay. My sister got married behind my back, and not even my parents decide to tell me."

James glanced at Marigold, who shook her head, almost telling him not to bother in trying to get more out of her.

"I'll tell you about it later." she hissed, and James nodded.

"Hey Lily, why don't we go to the park for a bit, so that you can see your family with out-"

"Lily! Oh my goodness your here at last." Sara Evans ran out of the house and threw her arms around her youngest daughter's waist.

Lily however was not in the mood for hugs, as she pulled away, "Why didn't you tell me about Petunia getting married?"

"But we did tell you Lily. Petunia sent an invitation to you, but she said that you had answered her that you were too busy to come."

"Oh did she now?" Lily seethed, "Where is she?"

"In the house, but Lily-"

Mrs Evans stopped as Lily had already charged into the house. Hurriedly she and Lily's friends followed her. They found Lily with her wand out and pointing at Petunia, shouting.

"Why wasn't I invited?"

"I ddon't kknnnow what y-your talking about." Petunia stuttered.

"Oh don't you? Apparently you sent me an invitation to your wedding, but I didn't get one. Why not?" Lily's wand shook slightly in her grasp, and James took a step forwards.

"Lily? Lily out your wand down. Come on you don't want to hurt your sister."

"Shut up James."

James took a breath, "No, and if you don't put your wand down..." he stopped and took his own out pointing it at her, "I'll have to do something that I'm not happy about doing."

Lily glanced at him, and then at his wand, "I have to know why."

"And Petunia will tell you, just put your wand down."

"I don't-"

"Expeliarmus!" James waved his wand and for the second time that year, Lily found that her wand was plucked from her hand by an invisible grip and landed in the hands of James.

Petunia let out a shriek, "You almost hit me with that think, you freak."

Lily spun back round to face her, "Is that why I wasn't invited? Because you think I'm a freak and you don't want to be related with me? Is that is? Because if so, after this visit I will never step foot inside this house again if you are in it!"

"Oh come now Lily," Sara tried to calm her daughter, "I'm sure Petunia sent you an invite and you just can't remember it."

Petunia held Lily's gaze and then a spiteful look came over her, "She's right Mum. I didn't sent her an invite. Why would I want a _freak_ to be with me on the best day of my life? She would have ruined it and I'm glad she didn't come."

Mrs Evans let out a shocked gasp, and Petunia's smile became even more gloating, "See Mum, she doesn't care about-"

She stopped as Lily started to shake, "Why would you do that? Why?"

"You are a Freak, and neither myself or Vernon wanted you to be there."

"Oh so your going to do what Vernon now tells you?"

"Vernon is my husband, so of course I will do what he wants me to." Petunia sniffed, then she turned away from her sister, "Now I'm going to pick Vernon up from work."

"Good," Lily spat, "and don't expect me to be here when you get back."

"Well that's a good thing. I don't think Vernon wants to meet you anyway. So you'll save me the embarrassment of him meeting my Freak sister." with that Petunia flounced from the room, a smile still on her lips.

Sara rushed forwards to comfort her daughter but James got there first. As he pulled Lily into his arms her own wound around his waist. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Lily pulled away and turned to her mother.

"Is she staying here Mum?"

"No, she and Vernon have bought a house on Privet Drive, in Surrey. They'll drive up there tonight and come back down tomorrow and on Sunday."

"Does she have to come back tomorrow?"

Sara sighed, "Yes, she does. She's still moving stuff out and tends to stay down here the whole day, before picking up Vernon and going back home."

"So she's not coming back till tomorrow?"

"Oh no, she'll come back here to pack her stuff in the car."

"Great." Lily muttered. "Okay well then I'll just keep out of the way then. Where is everyone sleeping?"

"All the girls are in your room, and the boys can sleep in Petinua's room and the guest room."

"Will Petunia really want a whole load of 'freaks' sleeping in her room?" Marigold asked.

"It doesn't matter. She has moved out so that room is not hers any more, but I do see your point. Well in that case all the boys have to sleep in the guest room. Okay?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah, thanks Mum. I'll take them up now and make their beds."

"Okay sweetheart." Mrs Evans drew her daughter closer and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry about Petunia."

"Its okay Mum. Its her loss." Lily shrugged, "Right come on guys lets go."

She took them out of the Living Room and up the stairs to a landing. The landing resembled more of a hall, with five doors leading off into separate rooms.

"That's the bathroom." Lily pointed at the first door on the right, "And that's my parents room, Petunia's room, my room and the guest room." she stopped. "Yeah that's about the extent of my house."

"Oh Lily, it doesn't matter how big your house is. What matters that your house is also a home. Now what do say about making ourselves scarce when the bitch and her man get home?"

A smile crept onto Lily's face, "Okay Mari, why don't we put our stuff away and then go for a walk round the neighbourhood?"

"Sounds good," Mary nodded, "how about we go to the playground down the road. I'm pretty sure that the boys haven't been to one before."

"Now that is a great idea." Lily's smile grew even wider and Marigold decided that it was better not to remind Lily that that was the very park, where Lily had first met Severus.

"Right, come on then." Alice headed towards Lily's room, pushed open the door and dumped her bag, followed closely by the other girls. The boys also deposited their bags in the guest room, before heading back down the stairs. Lily yelled out to her mother that they were going for a walk and wouldn't be back till later. Sara poked her head out of the kitchen and told them to be back in time for dinner, and to be careful. Lily said they would and they left. Instead of going back the way they came, they continued walking down the street to the small park by the river. The Marauders and Frank were enthralled by the swings and climbing frames. Once again the girls were reduced to laughter by the boys antics. It was late by the time they finally managed to drag the boys away from the playground, and went back to the house. By that time Mr Evans had arrived home from work, and it was obvious by the way that he greeted Lily that not only had he missed his daughter but that Mrs Evans had told him what had happened with Petunia. He greeted all the guests with the same enthusiasm, but Marigold had the biggest welcome.

"Marigold!" Michael cried, pulling the girl into a hug and ruffling her hair. "Your looking well."

Marigold grinned, "Hey Michael. Great to see you again."

"Has Petunia come yet?" Lily asked grabbing a glass and a bottle of juice.

Sara shook her head, "No, there must be a lot of traffic today."

The doorbell rang and Lily's hand froze half way up to her mouth. Everyone else in the room also froze, and as the bell went for a second time, Sara got to her feet and left the room. The group heard the door open and Sara greeting Petunia and Vernon. There were footsteps on the stairs and then the sound of two pairs of footsteps coming back towards the kitchen, one set heavier than the other. Sara re-entered the room, closely followed by a rather large man.

"Okay everyone this is Vernon, Petunia's husband. Vernon, this is Petunia's sister, Lily."

The big man nodded, and shuffled further away from Lily.

"These are her some of her school friends, um Marigold, Alice, Mary, James, Sirius, Remus and Frank." Sara ran through the guests pointing them out as she went along.

If possible Marigold was sure that Vernon would have got even further away from them, as soon as Sara had mentioned that they went to the same school as Lily, and she grinned.

"Hey Vernon." she pulled her wand out, and spun it over in her fingers, "How are you on this fine night?"

Vernon paled slightly, and barely managed his stuttered reply, "I...I'm fffine thank you."

Marigolds grin got even wider, "Well isn't that's wonderful?" and she flicked her wand at him. Vernon flinched and then ducked as a spark shot towards him.

"What are you doing?" Petunia shrieked, appearing at the door. She took one glance at Marigold making sure that her wand was away, before rushing over to Vernon.

"Are you okay, Vernon?"

"Yes." he puffed, as Petunia helped him to his feet, "But it was lucky I ducked so fast, otherwise who knows what would have happened."

Petunia turned on Marigold, "How dare you point that thing at my husband! You filthy little freak!"

"Well how dare _you_ not invite your own sister to your wedding."

"She's a freak just like you and she would have spoilt everything."

"Your sister is not a freak. She is the best student at our school."

"So she's a freak, and your one as well. Your a dirty little-" she broke off with a scream as a jet of ruby red light shot towards her.

"Sirius!" Lily cried out in shock, speaking for the first time since her sister had entered the house. She was staring at Sirius who's wand was out and pointing at Petunia.

"You are lucky that I missed on purpose." he hissed. "If you ever insult my girlfriend or Lily again, I will make sure that I don't miss."

"Sirius stop." Lily grabbed his wand. "Don't start that."

"Get off me Lily-Petal. She insulted you and Goldie and I will not allow that."

"I don't care, Sirius. But you cannot use your wand against Muggles, no matter what they do."

"Now your insulting us." Petunia glared at her sister.

"It's not an insult Petunia, its just the name we use for none magical people." Lily turned to look at her, "You don't even want to know the insulting names our world has."

"Oh I do, because then I could call you them and you would actually be hurt."

Lily stared at her sister with her mouth open and then Marigold stepped in, "Well at least Lily can take it, if you were at the school you wouldn't be able to take it."

"Yes I would, but then again nobody would call me those names because everyone would like me."

Marigold laughed, "Oh no Petunia. You would be called names too, because of who your parents are."

"What do you mean." scoffed Petunia.

"What I mean is that because you don't come from a magical family, you'd be ridiculed."

"Because of who I am? But that's stupid, I can't help being who I am."

"Exactly, just like Lily can't help being who she is." Marigold stared pointedly at Petunia whilst she said this, and Petunia turned red, realising what Marigold was hinting at.

"Well er yes, I think its time we were going." Vernon put his arm protectively. "Petunia I don't think its a good idea for you to come back here tomorrow with out me, I'd like you to stay at home."

Petunia nodded, "I think that's a good idea too. I can finish off unpacking then."

"Good. Goodbye Mrs Evans, Mr Evans." Vernon nodded towards Sara and Michael, "We'll see you on Sunday morning."

"Yes, what time will you be arriving?" Sara asked as she followed them to the door.

"About twelve I would say, but if any of those people have their sticks we will not stay here, is that understood?" Vernon's voice was so loud that it travelled back into the kitchen.

"Of course Vernon, I understand." Sara soothed, "Goodbye!"

The door closed and Sara gave a sigh of relief, as she walked back to the kitchen.

"Dinner?" she questioned.

Lily nodded, then turned on Sirius, "Black never do that again."

"Why? She insulted both you and Goldie, and I am not having that."

"You can't just randomly attack people!"

"You let me do it at school."

"Only because the people at school can actually defend themselves, but I have never let you use that spell on people."

"But James lets me use it all the time."

"Oh does he?" Lily asked her eyes flashing.

"Oh great. Way to go Padfoot." James muttered.

At that point Michael broke in, asking the boys what their homes were like, giving Lily the chance to escape up to her room, which she did. Alice saw her go but as Marigold made to follow her, Alice caught her arm. "Leave her be. I think she needs time by herself, after what happened."

Marigold nodded, "Yes I think your right. Doesn't Petunia just get on your nerves so much?"

"Yes, but like Lily said we can't just attack them."

"True but I'm going to find that hard, and I'm sure the others will too. We might have to lock our wands away to stop us from killing her by the time we go back to school."

Alice laughed, "That is a very good idea. Come on lets go help Sara with the dinner."

With three girls helping Sara, dinner was soon ready. Lily was still up stairs and only came down after Sara had called. Her face was slightly red, from where she had been crying, but nobody decided to mention it. Trying to lighten the mood, James and Sirius started tell some really bad jokes. Soon the entire table was laughing, and Lily's face lost its unhappy expression. With the help of the Marauders the Evans house became full of laughter and for the rest of the evening neither Petunia or Vernon's name was mentioned. It was late by the time they finally went up stairs however none of the Gryffindors went to sleep. They gathered in Lily's room and started to talk. They hadn't been talking long, before Lily fell asleep, her head resting on James' shoulder. It didn't take long for the rest of the group to fall asleep, and that's how Mrs Evans found them the next morning, Lily and James in Lily's bed, and the rest of the Gryffindors curled up on the floor. She smiled, watching Lily and James. The boys arms were wrapped protectively around her waist, and the girl fit perfectly into his arms. Sara didn't want to wake them, but seeing as it was almost eleven, she didn't have a choice otherwise she'd never be ready in time for Easter. Gently she shook Lily, and the girls eyes shot open.

"Mum?"

"Morning Sweetheart. I need your help, can you get up?"

Lily nodded, "Yep, I'll come down as soon as possible. I just have to extradite myself from James' arms, give me a minute."

Sara smiled and watched her daughter as she slipped out of James' arms, pulling on a jumper.

"Come on Mum. I'll have a shower later, what do I need to do?"

"Set the table and decorate the house."

"Set the table? Surly we do that tonight?"

"Yes we do but, I think it might be nice for James and the others who come from wizarding families to experience Easter properly."

"And they can't do that this evening?"

Sara gave her daughter a push towards the dining room, "Just go set the table, and then decorate the house."

Lily laughed as she disappeared into the dining room. It didn't take her long to finish the table and the house decorations, so she returned to the kitchen.

"Hey Mum, need any more help? I've done the decorating."

Sara looked up, "Really, wow that was fast. Um why don't you get changed and see if the others are awake?"

"Okay, sure, but if you do need any more help just call okay?"

Sara nodded, "Okay Lily. Now go get ready."

Lily was back less than twenty minutes later with Marigold and Alice by her side, "Here we go Mum, all the others are still asleep, pretending to be asleep or in Sirius' case can't be bothered to get up."

Sara laughed, "Well you can tell your boyfriend, Marigold that if he doesn't get up soon I will force him to clean the entire house...without using magic."

Marigold grinned, "That would be his worst nightmare, but I think it would be good for him."

"Yes it probably would be good for him, however I think that you should give him a choice. Tell him what my mum had threatened, and then let him make the choice."

Marigold shrugged, "Okay fine." she disappeared, returning a few minutes later followed by an extremely grumpy Sirius and three very ragged looking boys. It seemed as if James hadn't been the only one pretending to be asleep. Mary staggered in after the boys, her hair all over the place.

"Its not fair, Sara." she muttered. "I was still asleep unlike the stupid boys."

"I didn't include your name in the threat, Mary, just Sirius'"

Mary grunted and shuffled over to a cabinet, and pulled out a box of cereal, "Well it didn't stop Marigold from waking me up."

"Oh were you still asleep?" Marigold asked, her eyes full of laughter.

"Yes, I think I was the only one still asleep."

"Right," Sara stepped in, "Why don't you all have breakfast. Lily show them where everything is, please, and after that do you think you could go out to the shops? I forgot to get something when I went yesterday."

Lily nodded, "Sure. Okay boys, for breakfast we have, cereal, fruit, bread, toast, eggs and bacon, and er pain au chocolate. What do you want?"

"Um, what's pain au chocolate?" James asked confused.

Grinning Lily showed him the small pastry filled with chocolate. James stared at it as if it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

"Can I try it?"

"Sure, do you want it warm or cold?"

"Warm please."

Lily turned and placed the pastry in the microwave.

"Wow!" James ran over, and pressed his face up against the glass, the others quickly followed him.

"What is this thing?" Sirius asked, enchanted.

"Its called a microwave. Its what we Muggles use to warm things up."

"It amazing."

The microwave stopped and gave a loud _ping, _immediately all three boys jumped back.

"What was that?" Frank stared at the microwave looking scared.

Alice laughed, "That was the microwave telling us that the food is ready."

"The machine tells you when food is ready? Wow, you Muggles have the most amazing things." Frank edged forwards and tapped the glass, then jumped back, "I think I'll stick to cereal."

Lily was still grinning as she open the microwave and took James' pain au chocolate out, "Here you go James."

James took the plate, then looked at the microwave again, "Lily." he whispered, "Lily I think I want a machine that warms food too."

"Maybe you'll get it as a present then on your birthday."

"My birthday?" James asked puzzled.

"Yes James, your birthday. Its this weekend. In fact its on Monday."

"Oh yeah." James looked thoughtful then turned to Sirius, "Hey Padfoot, did you know that its my birthday on Monday?"

Sirius nodded, "Yes Prongs I did. Did you?"

"Um no I kinda forgot."

"You forgot that its your seventeenth birthday on Monday? Wow Prongs, you must have had something very important going on in that head of yours to be able to forget that." Sirius turned to Lily, "Are we going to celebrate?"

Lily shrugged, "We can do here if you want but there'll be no alcohol so you might want to do it at school."

"Humm, good idea. Moony! We have some planning to do. Come on."

"Na uh." Lily grabbed Sirius' shirt, "You and Remus have to help get the house ready for Easter."

"Aww come on Lily-Petal. Prongs needs a proper birthday party."

"And he'll get one, but at this moment in time you need to help. Any way if you did know it was James' birthday on Monday why didn't you have something already prepared?"

Sirius gulped, "Um, yeah well about that."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Shut it Black, eat your breakfast and then do what Marigold tells you. I have to go to the shops."

"Can I come with you Lils?" James asked, "I've er I've finished my breakfast." He pushed his plate away from him, then suddenly grabbed it again, before getting up and putting it beside the sink. He turned to Lily with a huge smile on his face.

Lily shook her head, "You look like a little boy who's desperate for a gold star."

"What's a gold star?"

"It something that little children get when they've done something good at school."

James eyes lit up, "Can I get one? Please Lily? I want a real gold star to hang up in my room, it would go very well with-" James stopped, staring at his girlfriend who was bending over laughing.

"What?"

"A gold star is a sticker James, not an actual star from the sky."

"Oh." James' face fell.

"But you can still come with me to the shops, if you like."

"Really? Okay wait here, I'll go get changed ." James dashed out of the room, and Mrs Evans laughed.

"I think you should get him some gold stars Lily, because he's trying really hard to...um er"

"Trying really hard to get used to all this Muggle equipment?" Mary suggested, but Lily shook her head.

"Trying not to kill himself?"

"Sirius!" Marigold hit her boyfriend over the head, "Don't say something like that." Sirius just grinned.

"How about he's trying not to tell lies?"

"Or trying really hard not to use magic and being really good, not acting like a stupid Marauder and doing everything he can to get into Sara and Michael's good books so that they will let him come over in the holidays to see Lily otherwise he'll be incredibly sad?" Sirius stopped to find everyone staring at him, "What? That is what he's trying to do. He told Moony and myself not to do anything stupid because that would reflect on him, and-"

"Shut up Black." this time Lily wasn't alone with the shout, almost everyone joined in, with the exception of Lily's parents.

"Ready!" James rushed back into the room, "Shall we go Lily?"

Lily nodded, "Dad, can I use your car?"

"Yes, just be careful okay."

"I will."

Lily headed for the door, James trailing behind. She was just about to open the door, when Sara appeared.

"I don't think you should take the car Lily."

"Why not?"

"Well because you haven't got your license yet and-"

"Mum I have got my license remember, I got it in the summer?"

"Yes but you used magic to get it, and I don't think that is right."

"We'll be fine Mum, now what was it that you wanted us to get?"

Sara sighed, and told her, then watched her daughter get in the car and back safely out of the drive. Only once the car had disappeared at the corner of the road did she close the door.

"Ooh what does this do?" James asked pointing at a button on the dashboard. Lily barely glanced at it as she spun the steering-wheel.

"Turns the air-conditioning on."

"And what does this one do?"

Lily sighed, this was the tenth time James had asked her what that particular button did in five minutes, and the reason why he kept asking was because it was apparently his 'favourite' button. James was to busy with the wonders of the car that he hadn't asked about the rules Lily had broken and she was glad. She hadn't meant to confund the man who gave her lessons. She hadn't even wanted to learn how to drive, but then she had met another one of her old friends who's father ran a driving school. After a bit of persuasion the father agreed to let Lily learn to drive and she was soon ready to take the test. It was in the test that she had used magic, she forgot which side of the road to drive on and had almost run a red light.

"That opens the windows."

James pressed the button, but nothing happened, "Its not working." he moaned.

"I know."

"But why?"

"Because James I've turned the engine off, and taken the key out. Are you going to help me with the shopping or are you just going to stay there?"

"Um, I think I'll come with you."

James got out of the car and walked round to Lily. She smiled at him as he took her hand and they started to walk towards the supermarket.

"Hey James," Lily asked stopping just outside the doors, "ever seen one of these before?" she pointed to a trolley.

James shook his head and watched as Lily grabbed hold of the handle, "Do you want to push it?"

James nodded, "YES!"

"Okay, but there are a few rules."

"What?"

"First, no running. Second, you do exactly what I say. Third, remember there are other people in there and do not run into them with the trolley."

"Is that it?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Yes James it is. Come on then."

She turned and made her way through the doors. It was only when she got to the vegetables that she realised that James wasn't with her. She cursed and hurried back to the doors, to find James still standing outside staring as the doors opened by themselves when someone wanted to come in or out and closed when there was nobody there.

"James" Lily hissed, "James what the hell are you doing?"  
"Look Lily, they open and close by themselves."

"I know James. There called sliding doors."

"But I thought Muggles didn't have magic."

"Oh Merlin." Lily muttered, "James look you took Muggle Studies so you know that we don't have magic, this is done by electricity and sensors."

"Electocitee?"

"No E-l-e-c-t-r-i-c-i-t-y." Lily spelt out the word not wanting to elongate the conversation any more, "Look James can we please do the shopping? I'll tell you all about electricity and any thing else you want to know later, okay?"

James sighed but stood up, "Okay." He hesitated slightly by the doors and waited till someone else had walked through before he followed. Lily grabbed the trolley just before it hit the woman that James had followed through the door.

"Merlin, be careful James."

"Sorry." James grinned at her, "Come on Lils, shopping time!"

By the time Lily and James had returned from shopping the house was completely decorated, and the Gryffindors were sitting in the living room trying to blow eggs, and getting incredibly messy.

"Honestly," Mrs Evans sighed, grabbing a towel from the kitchen, "anyone would think your four years old with the mess your making."

Marigold grinned at her, "But if we didn't make any mess you'd also be complaining."

Sara flicked the towel at her, smiling, then rushed over to Sirius, "Oh no Sirius don't do it like that. You have to pierce the top of the egg and then blow. Now don't hold it to tightly either otherwise-"

Sirius' hand tightened on the egg and it broke sending bits of egg everywhere. "-it will brake." Mrs Evans sighed again, and Sirius jumped up.

"Don't worry Mrs Evans. I'll clean it up." he grabbed the towel from her and started to wipe the table only to drop it when James appeared at the door.

"Prongs!" he yelled jumping towards his friend, "Where have you been? You took along time at the shops."

"Did we?" James asked innocently.

"Yes James, of course we bloody well did." Lily's voice came from behind him and he quickly stepped out of the way to allowed the red head to pass.

"Lily-Petal!" Sirius cried pulling Lily into a hug, "What has Prongsie done to you? You can tell good old uncle Padfoot."

Lily slapped his arm gently, "Oh get off me Sirius. The only thing James has done to annoy me is him being extremely over enthusiastic whilst at Asda."

"What's Asda?"

"A supermarket. The shopping's in the kitchen, Mum."

"Oh good," Mrs Evans heaved herself off the ground where she had still be cleaning up after Sirius, "Well I think I'll go sort all that out. Lily dear would you please stay and help them with the eggs."

Lily nodded, "Of course."

Sara disappeared from the room and Lily sat down grabbing an egg. "Hey James, come and watch me do this, then you can do it yourself. Oh and Black you might want to watch as well."

Half an hour later all the eggs had had their yokes blown out of them and Lily set them all to painting. Luckily no other accidents had happened to any of the eggs, and the painting also went without a hitch. Lily had disappeared during the painting and after a while James went to look for her. He found her lying on her bed, half asleep. James grinned, and left the room quietly. Back down stairs the calmness had abated and Mary and Sirius were throwing insults at each other after Sirius had dropped his paint brush on her jeans. Marigold and Alice were trying to calm them down whilst Remus was explaining what a television was to Frank.

"Wow." the boy whispered, "That sounds amazing, do you think that the Evans have one?"

Remus shrugged, "Oi Goldie."

"What?" Marigold barley glanced in their direction.

"Is there a television here?"

"Yep in the living room."

"Do you think we can watch it?"

"I don't know. Ask Lily or Sara, I don't live here. Sirius Black stop it AT ONCE" Marigold hit him over the head. But Sirius paid no attention.

"I think I'll go ask Mrs Evans about the television." Remus headed for the kitchen.

"I'll come to." Frank jumped to his feet.

"You stupid idiotic Flobberworm!"

"No brain, flesh eaten Blast-ended Screwt!"

"How dare you! You vile piece of-"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?"

The shouting stopped and Sirius and Mary turned to face Mr Evans. Lily's father was glaring at them, "What is going on?" he repeated.

"Just messing about." Marigold smiled at him.

"Doesn't sound like messing about. Sounds more like a whole pack of wolves, you might want to keep the noise down. If I can here you in the garage then people in their gardens can also here you."

Sirius frowned, "Where's the problem in that?"

"Oh Merlin Sirius are you that dumb?" Mary asked. Sirius opened his mouth to reply but Mary continued. "If Michael can here us then all the Muggles can here us as well."

"I still don't get it, whats the-"

"Oh for goodness sake Black! They're Muggles that can here you and you and Mary are shouting about magical creatures!" Lily had appeared in the doorway. The look on her face matched her fathers, and they cringed away from her. "Do you get it now?"

Sirius nodded slowly, "Yes...well sort off. We don't actually know for definite that they can hear us so-"

"Black if you dare start another fight in my house then you can go back to school." Lily threatened.

"Um does someone want to watch tely vision with us?" Frank asked, poking his head in to the room.

"Ooh yes I do." Alice rushed over to the door, followed closely by Marigold and Mary. Lily sighed, and pulled out her wand, "Go join them Sirius."

The black haired boy nodded and left the room quickly. James was now the only one left. Mr Evans had already retired back to his hideaway in the garage.

"Lils?" James asked tentatively, once Lily had cleaned the dining room.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

Lily stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him, her eyes running all the way up and down his body, before finally answering the question, "No." She whispered it so quietly that James almost missed it. Luckily he didn't and he moved towards her, pulling her into a hug.

"Are you ill?"

Lily shook her head.

"Worried about something?"

Lily paused then nodded, and James tightened his grip on her, "What ever your worried about Lils will sort itself out. Trust me."

"You know I trust you James."

"Then trust yourself. I know what your worried about."

"What?"

"Petunia and how tomorrow is gong to work out. How Marigold and Petunia are going to behave and all that kind of stuff."

Lily looked up at him, "How did you know that?"

"Easy, I know you. But Lils don't worry about that. Our wands will be lock away and we will all promise not to hurt you bitch of a sister or her husband."

Lily smiled slightly, "No matter even if promises are made I don't think Marigold will last the entire day having to be civil to Petunia."

"We'll find a way." James said softly kissing her gently on the lips. "Now, I want to see this tely version."

And just like that, the moment was lost. Lily forced a smile onto her face, as she took James' hand, "Come on then." She lead him to the others, and they sat down Lily in James lap, as is nothing had ever happened.


	28. Easter Egg Hunt

AN? Hey guys here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Easter Egg Hunt

Lily woke early on Easter morning. Tired she rolled over again, only to find that there was somebody else lying in her bed. She started to panic for a second before she realised that it was James and that she was wearing her pyjamas. She glanced round the room and saw that Marigold and Alice's beds were empty, except for Frank and Sirius. Quietly Lily slipped out of bed and made her way down stairs. There were voices coming from the kitchen and Lily heard the back door slide shut. It sounded as if her dad had just finished hiding all the eggs. As Lily got closer she heard Alice telling her mum about her seventeenth birthday party. Marigold suddenly interrupted Alice, "Sara can't we wake the others up now? Its past seven and you said that if none of them are awake in an hour we can wake them."

"Marigold I think it would be better if we let them all sleep. After all yesterday was pretty busy and today after lunch you have to go back to school. So-"

"I'd wake them up if I were you." Lily said as she entered the kitchen.

"Lily!" Marigold beamed at her, "Do you give permission?"

Lily nodded, "Yes, go ahead. I'm surprised that they're no up already considering how exited they were."

"But they were also tired."

"True." Lily shrugged. "Mari go wake them up."

Marigold's grin widened, "Oh I will don't you worry about that. Come on Alice, you can help me. Heaven knows if we're going to get Sirius out of bed before noon."

Alice laughed and she and Marigold ran upstairs.

Mrs Evans meanwhile pulled her daughter into a hug, "Sleep well?"

Lily nodded, "Dads been out hasn't he?"

Sara tutted and shook her head, "No not your father, but the Easter Bunny."

Lily laughed, "Mum please, I'm well over that."

"Yes but for James and the others, I think we should keep up the fantasy."

"Okay Mum, but only because of them."

Mrs Evans smiled and there came a big bang from upstairs, "What on earth are they doing?" she asked referring to Marigold and Alice.

"Pushing James out of the bed probably." Lily shrugged grabbing herself a drink.

"But your rooms right above us, what-" she stopped then eyed her daughter carefully, "Lily."

"Yes Mum?"

"Are the boys sleeping in your room?"

Lily nodded, "Yep."

"And where are you and the girls sleeping?"

"In my room." Lily answered watching for her mothers reaction.

"Oh okay, so James is sleeping in your bed?"

Lily nodded again. Mrs Evans placed her hands on the work surface, "Why aren't they in the guest room?"

"Because the night we got here they also slept in my room, and to save you from doing more washing than necessary the boys decided to sleep in my room again."

"But they would have used the bedclothes, so I'll have to do the washing anyway."

Lily shook her head, "Not all of them."

"What do you mean?"

"James slept in my bed with me, Sirius was with Marigold and Frank and Alice shared a bed. Remus and Mary were the only ones who slept by themselves."

"And why is that?"

"Um because they're not going out."

"I see, well as long as nothing happened."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Please Mum, like I would do anything. I want to live a bit before I get stuck with a baby."

"You love children."

"I know, but I'd still have to put my life on hold while its a baby."

"Why? What job do you want to do?"

"I want to be an Auror."

"What's an Auror?"

"A witch or wizard who catches bad witches and wizards. Basically the police of the Wizarding World."

Mrs Evans nodded slowly, "And er this job, is it dangerous?"

"All jobs are dangerous."

"I know but is it life threatening?"

"Depends on the job."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it depends on what I'm sent out to do."

"Morning Petal." Michael said walking into the kitchen, already fully dressed. He kissed Lily on the head before moving onto his wife. "Where's the rest of the rabble then?"

As if in answer to his question, footsteps sounded on the stairs. They were quickly followed by a yell as someone slipped and the thunking noise as they fell down the stairs. As soon as the person had landed at the bottom of the stairs Lily rushed out of the room, to find Sirius lying in a heap at the foot of the stairs, Mary glaring at him from halfway up.

"Sirius are you okay?"

Sirius groaned, and sat up, "What the hell was that for Donny?"

"You know very well what for, and never try it again."

Marigold charged down the stairs, "Oh my God, Sirius are you hurt?" she grabbed his face in her hands and studied it, before helping him up.

"Ow. That hurt."

"Well next time, don't try to push Mary down the stairs." Marigold offered, brushing Sirius down.

"Because she may be a girl, but that doesn't mean that she's not strong."

Sirius nodded, and he started to limp towards the kitchen. The rest of the group now continued to descend the stairs. James came up behind Lily and wrapped his arms around her, "Morning Lily-Petal." he kissed her ear. "Happy Easter."

Lily grinned and still in James' embrace turned round, so that she could kiss him properly, "Morning Prongs. Nice to see your so happy."

"Of course I'm happy. I've got the prettiest girl ever in my arms, its my birthday tomorrow and I get to try out a whole load of Muggle things."

Lily giggled, "Come on then. Otherwise we'll miss the Easter Egg Hunt."

James' eyes lit up, and he dragged Lily into the Kitchen, where Sirius was now being fussed over by Sara. Luckily Sirius hadn't hurt himself and after Sara had finally been persuaded that going to the hospital really wouldn't help, they were let lose in the garden. Before they went however Michael felt the need to explain some key rules.

"Okay guys before you go, you must remember no shouting, pushing or using magic. If you find something then put in in your basket and don't argue if one of you has got more or less than someone else, as everything will be shared equally between all of you later. And in case I haven't made myself clear, don't use magic. Okay?"

The teenagers nodded, "Can we go now?" Marigold asked clutching her basket as if her life depended on it.

Michael sighed, and opened the back door, "Sure off you go."

And they ran. Mrs Evans laughed as she watched them, "Anyone would think they were six years old."

There came a squeal from Sirius, telling everyone that he had found his first egg, then an even louder one as he picked up a second one. With eight people running around the Evans' small back garden it didn't take them long to find all the eggs, that and the fact that Sirius and James had ignored Michael's rules and used magic. Fortunately neither Mr or Mrs Evans seemed to have noticed. The Gryffindors re-entered the house half and hour after they had left it, baskets full, and with happy smiles on their faces. Sara insisted on taking pictures of them with their baskets, then set the girls to work in the kitchen and the boys to set the table. Lily was the only one excused from helping as she was to do all the sorting out. She tipped out the contents of each basket and sorted them in to the different types. All the chocolate that Sara had bought were Muggle ones, so none of the boys except maybe Remus would know them. By the time breakfast was ready all the sorting was done and they sat down to the amazing spread of food, that Mrs Evans and the girls had prepared.

"Wow, Sara if this is our breakfast I can't wait to see what our lunch will be like."

Sara smiled, "Well I just hope it all tastes good. And you better hurry up Michael, church starts at ten thirty."

Marigold leant to Lily, "Do we have to go?"

Lily shook her head, "No, we don't. Usually I would but because your here I don't have to."

"I didn't know your family were religious." Mary whispered.

"We're not." Lily sighed, wondering why she had to explain this when her friends had known her for almost seven years. "But on special dates, like Easter and Christmas, my parents go to church. Other than that they stay away from churches."

They had just finished breakfast when the doorbell rang. Mrs Evans looked up surprised, "I wonder who that could be?"

"I'll get it." Lily jumped up. They listened as she made her way down the hall and opened the front door. They heard voices, then the door closed and more than one pair of footsteps sounded on the floor. Lily re-entered the room, followed by two tall men.

"Um Mum, Dad these men are from the Ministry of Magic."

One of them held his hand out, and smiled, "Hello Mr and Mrs Evans I am sorry to disturb you on a day like today, but do you think we could possibly have a word with Mr Sirius Black?"

Sirius looked up, he eyed their clothes carefully before standing up, "I'm not going to answer any of your questions."

"My apologies Mr Black, but you will answer our questions here otherwise we'll have to take you for a proper hearing at the Ministry."

Sirius opened his mouth, but Michael spoke, "May I ask why you wish to speak to Sirius?"

"Certainly, its a little matter of family business."

Sirius suddenly went pale, "I don't have a family."

"Come now Mr Black everyone has a family."

"Yes, but if anything has happened to the Potters then you should be speaking to James, not me."

"Ahh, but we're not talking about the Potters. No we're talking about _your_ family. The people you were born to. We want information about the Blacks."

Sirius swallowed, "What do you want to know about them?"

"We'd rather talk somewhere more private." the man eyed the door leading to the living room, and catching the hint, Lily moved towards it.

"Why don't you use the living room then?"

"Thank you Miss Evans, that is a very kind offer."

Lily scowled as the men swept passed her into the room. Sirius was also scowling as he followed them. As soon as the door was closed, Lily's wand was out and moving in a fast complicated way. The pressure in the room suddenly seemed to change and the door leading to the living room disappeared, giving the people in the dining room a full view of what was going on. The man who seemed to be the boss of the two was sitting in an arm chair, facing Sirius who was on the sofa. The other man was standing by the window, a notebook and pen poised in his hand.

"Right Mr Black, what can you tell us about your family?"

"What do you want to know, and what has happened that you feel the need to come here instead of waiting till I return to school?"

"What has happened Mr Black? I would have thought that was obvious. We know that it was your father and cousin who attacked and killed Mr Jenkins."

Sirius' face hardened, "So? So what? You knew that already so why do you need me?"

"We need to know where your family is. Where are they hiding?"

"Hiding?" Sirius scoffed, "Oh please if there's one thing you should know about the Black family it is that we don't hide."

"Where do they live Mr Black?"

Sirius stared straight into the man's eyes as he answered, "I don't know. I would have thought the Ministry knew that."

"Oh we do know where they live, but there's one small problem."

"And what's that?"

"Don't play dumb with me boy." The man hissed, his temper starting to fail, "You know what our problem is. Your family's house is hidden, only people who know where it is can find it, so tell me now where is it!"

"DO you think I'm stupid?" Sirius asked. "If I tell you where they live, they'll come after me. It doesn't matter that I'm their relative or even their son. They'll kill me."

"Your afraid to die?"

"No. I may have failed my family by being in Gryffindor, and I may hate my family for their beliefs, but I will not betray them."

"Your a stupid boy, Mr Black did you know that? Because you haven't told us of your own free will, we'll have to force it out of you."

"You can't. I'm not the secret keeper."

The men stopped, "What?" the one in the chair asked.

"I'm not the secret keeper, so you won't be able to get in, even if I did tell you."

"Who is the secret keeper then? Your father? Your mother? Your cousin? Or maybe your brother?"

"Don't you dare go anywhere near my brother." Sirius glared at the men. "He doesn't know anything about this."

"Oh but Mr Black, he does." Sirius looked at them confused, so the man continued, "Your brother was also involved with Mr Jenkins murder, his name just wasn't mentioned in the paper. No need to scare the public any more than necessary, is there?" he smiled. "Your whole family should be in Azkaban, and your the one who can help put them there."

Sirius stood up suddenly knocking over the small tea table in front of him, "I am not going to answer any more of your questions."

"You have hardly answered one of them. Sit down until we have finished."

"No. If you want ask more questions, take me to the Ministry but I will not say anything else in this room." Sirius turned to go, but suddenly found himself frozen.

"Mr Black, I think your under the impression that you have a choice." the man said silkily. He pointed his wand at Sirius, "I'm going to ask you one more time. Where is your family hiding?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Then you'll regret it." the man whispered and raised his wand.

"Stop!" Lily yelled and jumped up pushing through the invisible barrier she had created, that had blocked the group from the men's eyes. She pointed her wand directly at the lead man, who only grinned, "Stupid little Mudblood." he hissed, before turning to his companion. "You deal with her."

The man nodded and moved forwards. Lily immediately switched her attention, and suddenly James was by her side, with Remus, Alice Marigold and Frank close behind. All had their wands out and all were trained on the two men. They froze, and James stepped forwards, "You had better go."

"Oh and what can you do to us?" the lead man sneered.

"Nothing." James said grinning, before his face hardened, "But my parents can do something when they get here as can the rest of the Aurors. Then we'll see whether you truly are from the Ministry."

"Ahh, Mr Potter. Do you still want to be friends with this boy from a traitor family? His father killed your grandfather."

"And? So what?" James asked voiced almost exactly the same words as Sirius not five minutes before. "That was his father not him. Your obviously not from the Ministry so why don't you leave?"

"Or maybe you want to stay." Lily said suddenly and started to move. "You want to stay and finish of the job you were sent to do."

One of them laughed, but it was a fake laugh, and Lily could tell the man was scared, "And who do you think sent us Mudblood."

A ripple of hatred seared though James and a spark shot out of his wand hitting the man on the arm. He jumped and turned to James, "What was that for?"

"Never call my Girlfriend that ever again, or you'll get worse."

"Oh really, so your going to protect this Mudblood are you?" he grinned and his wand flick back towards Lily, shooting a jet of white at her. Lily ducked just in time, as the spell sailed over her head.

"Too slow." she smiled, then twiddled her wand, "So what are two followers of Lord Voldermort doing looking for the Black Family home hum?" Lily opened her mouth to speak again, but ended up ducking as another spell shot towards her. By this time though Marigold had performed the counter-curse to the spell that had been put on Sirius and he had now also joined his friends. Mary was hanging back standing in front of Mr and Mrs Evans and hoping that the men wouldn't attack her.

"Your not going to find out anything else from me." Sirius hissed, "So get out before the Aurors come and _you _end up in Azkaban."

"Are you threatening me boy?"

"He's not the only one." Marigold added her eyes gleaming.

"Uh boss, I think we'd better go."

The leader turned and glared at the man, which was a mistake, because as soon as his back was turned James, Sirius and Frank leapt at them. But this time the men were quicker. Somehow the leader saw the boys jump out of the corner of his eye and a split second before they landed on them, the man grabbed his companion and turned on the spot disappearing with a pop.

"Damn it!" James yelled throwing his wand on the floor. He turned and was about to hit the wall when Lily grabbed him.

"James, don't. Come on, stop it."

James looked at her, "They knew something Lily, they knew something. We were so close to finding it out, and then we lost them."

"Why didn't you guys just stun them and wait for Mr and Mrs Potter?" Mary asked.

James turned to her, "Because they're not coming. Nobody is. I didn't call anyone, I was bluffing and hoping that they would believe me and scatter before they realised the truth."

"You mean-" Lily stopped, not believing her ears. "James didn't you see that they were Death Eaters? You should have called your parents, then those men would be behind bars right now."

"Or maybe not." Sirius whispered. "They are supporters of Voldermort but they aren't proper Death Eaters."

"Why not?"

Sirius turned away from them, "Because they weren't wearing masks and they rang the doorbell. Trust me guys, my parents have done tons of jobs for Voldermort and none of them involved the ringing of doorbells or them not wearing their masks." Sirius spun round again suddenly and faced James, "Prongs mate, I'm sorry about what they did. Your parents didn't want you to know, so I-"

"Padfoot its all right. I knew anyway. I'm not an idiot and I do read the paper sometimes."

"Still, I'm sorry for what they did. Does Amy know?"

James shook his head, "No, and she will never know."

"Mum, Dad are you all right?" Lily asked rushing over to them.

Mr Evans nodded, "Yes, Lily we are thank you."

"I think its better if you stay inside the house today."

"Yes, yes I think your right." Sara nodded, and Lily turned back to her friends.

"We need to contact the Ministry and tell them what just happened."

James nodded, "Yeah, your right. I'll send a message to my parents."

"But the most important thing is, are you children all right?" Michael asked.

The reply was a whole load of yeses and a few laughs.

"Lily." Sara stepped forwards and grabbed her daughters arm, "Never do anything that stupid ever again."

Lily nodded, and thought it better not tell her mother that if she became a Auror this would be her day job.

"I've done it." James announced. "They should be here soon, with a few other people. I told them to apparate right into the room if that's okay?"

"Yes its fine, just as long as they're careful. Here Remus help me pick up this table."

Remus did as he was told and they had only just done that when Jane and Adam appeared with four other people. Jane walked straight over to Sara and gave her a hug, "Are you okay Sara, did anything happen to you or Michael?"

"No, they didn't even look at us."

Jane spun on her heel then and headed for James. She grabbed him, lent in very close and whispered, "Are you hurt?"

"No Mum, I'm fine. All of us are."

"Oh thank Merlin for that." Jane let go of her son and headed for Sirius, asking him the exact same question. Sirius however just shrugged Jane off.

"They wanted me to tell them about my family." he looked into Jane's eyes, "They were going to kill me for the information."

"Well its a damn good thing they didn't" Adam muttered. "Did they shoot at anyone?"

"Yes, they did." Alice answered.

"Who?"

"Lily."

Adam turned to the red head, who was now in cased in James' arms, "Did they hit you?"

Lily shook her head, "No, but only because I ducked both times."

"They shot twice?"

"Yeah, both times with the same spell."

"And what colour was the spell?"

"White," James answered. "Pure white, like the colour of unicorns."

Adam nodded, "And the disappareated I'm guessing?"

A nod from James, and Adam sighed, "There's not a lot her to work with. Why did you call us sooner?"

"We were too busy, making sure that they didn't kill Sirius or attack any of us." James answered. "Dad can you just stop asking questions?"

"Can't do that son, this is my job."

"Your job is to stop people from getting attacked, not asking questions."

"True, but when we're to late, that's when the questioning comes in."

Adam turned away and another man approached, "Um we need a description of the two men, if that is possible. I mean were they wearing masks or-"

"No masks." Sirius looked up, "They weren't proper Death Eaters, only followers who wanted to belong."

"Then you'll be able to give us a good description." Retorted the wizard. Sirius nodded, and began. Jane and Adam had wondered over to Sara and Michael whilst the other three wizards wondered round the Living room, muttering under their breaths. In the end the investigation took so long that Sara invited all the visitors for lunch, but only Jane and Adam agreed to stay. It had been agreed between the Potters and the other four Ministry workers that a watch would be put on the Evans' house and Professor Dumbledore be told about what had happened. Only after that did Adam and Michael sit down in the living room, Sara and Jane retreat to the kitchen to cook and the teens were left to clear the table. They were all slightly shock with what had happened, and James was suddenly very over protective of Lily and wouldn't let her out of his sight. In fact James wasn't the only one, both Frank and Sirius were the same and even Remus kept a look out for Mary. When the table was finally cleared and set again for lunch, the teens went upstairs, to talk.


	29. Easter Lunch

Easter Lunch

The doorbell rang and immediately Adam jumped to his feet wand in hand. He met Jane in the hallway, she too had her wand out. Before they could take one step, James, Sirius, Remus, Frank and Lily jumped down the last step into the hallway.

"What are you five doing?" Jane hissed.

"Answering the door." James replied.

"I think it would be better if Lily opened the door, I mean she does live here after all." Remus suggested.

Adam nodded, "Good idea. Okay we'll all hang back apart from James and Lily. James keep your wand hidden and Lily put yours away completely. The rest of us will back you guys up. Okay?"

The bell rang again and Lily slipped her wand up her sleeve. Then she and James went for the door. They opened it to find Petunia and Vernon standing on the steps.

Petunia glared at Lily, "Its about time you opened the door. Oh for goodness sake move!"

Petunia pushed passed Lily and then froze at the sight of the six people in the hallway pointing wands at her. She gasped and fell back against Vernon, who was also staring.

"Um, Dad you can put your wands away." James called from behind Vernon, who was blocking the entire hallway. "Its Lily's sister."

"Are you sure its her and not an impostor?" Adam asked warily.

"Who is it?" Marigold came jumping down the stairs, "Oh great, your here."

"I'm not exactly pleased to see you here either. Who are all these people?" Petunia turned her head trying to see past Vernon to glare at Lily, "Oi Freak, can you tell all the other freaks to drop their sticks and let me into my home?"

"I would, if you stupid whale of a husband got out of the way." Lily replied.

Vernon turned red, and shuffled slightly to the side, and Lily was just about able to get though.

"Okay um Adam, Jane its my sister and her husband so," she shrugged, "You can drop your wands."

"I thought they were going to be locked up when we came?" Petunia sniffed, pulling her cardigan tighter around her body as she slipped passed the people in the hallway.

"Plans change." Lily muttered, taking her wand out of her sleeve and stuffing it down her shirt. Vernon's eyes widened as did the boys, until James appeared. He grabbed Lily arm and pulled her to him, "Are you okay?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Please James, my sister just turned up, so no need to go into protection override."

"Sorry." James muttered.

Lily grinned and patted his cheek, "It was cute. Don't worry." she kissed him, then lead the group into the kitchen where Petunia was complaining abut the way she and Vernon had been greeted.

Sara patted her shoulder, "Calm down Petunia. There's a reason for everything."

"I highly doubt that." she muttered, "How can anything explain the way had six or more wands pointing at us as if we were criminals."

"Well there is a reason for that." Sara paused, then continued, "We were almost well um, Jane can you explain?"

Jane nodded, stepped forwards, "Your parents and sister were almost attacked by some people from our world."

"Oh great, and what's the betting they're going to come after me."

"If your worried we can put a watch on your house as well."

"I am no having people like you standing outside our house whilst we go about our business." Vernon blustered. "I will not have it."

"Very well. It was only a question, and one that was asked to your wife."

"How dare you speak to me and my wife like that you-"

Adam stepped forwards, "Young man, I do not like your attitude, be careful with the way you speak to us, and I will also not have you speak like that to _my _wife. Do not threaten us otherwise you will regret it."

Vernon shrank back against the wall, a look of horror on his face. Sara stepped forwards quickly, "Okay we'd better start the introductions then, um Jane, Adam this is our eldest daughter Petunia and her husband Vernon. Petunia you already know Mr and Mrs Potter, so Vernon this is Jane and Adam Potter and James is their son."

"What are they doing here? I thought it was going to be a family thing, well aside from the Freaks friends."

"They are here because we almost got attacked, okay Petunia. Stop acting like such a spoilt-"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that you filthy little freak!" Petunia hissed at Marigold.

"How dare you!" Sirius tried to jump at her but was held back by James, "Prongs let me go. I will not have anyone insult my girlfriend."

"Okay everyone stop it!" Sara shouted, and everyone did stop. "I will not have anyone ruin this Easter. Petunia for the last time please do _not_ call your sister and her friends names. Sirius don't try to attack Petunia and Marigold-" she stopped, and sighed, "and Marigold you should also stop winding Petunia up. Got it?"

"Yes Sara."

"Yes Mrs Evans."

Sara looked to her daughter as she was the only one yet to answer, "Petunia?"

"Forget it." Petunia snapped, "If this is how I'm going to be treated in my own home, I'm going."

"You don't live here any more Petunia, so its not your own home." Lily spoke quietly, "And I think you should stay, Mum want us all to be together."

"I will not sit at a table full of-"

"Petunia can't you just stop?" Lily begged. "Can't you just see that what your doing now, what you've always been doing hurts?"

Petunia stared at her sister's begging eyes, then turned to her mother, "We'll stay but only for lunch and then we'll go. Vernon has to work tomorrow so we have to get home early."

"Don't worry Petunia, we're going right after lunch as well. You can stay here without being worried that you'll be infected by us." Lily turned away from her sister and disappeared up stairs. After a few seconds James followed her. The rest just stayed in the kitchen until Sara realised that the lunch was burning and went to rescue it. When lunch was ready people sat down. Sara had rearranged the seating order so that she and Michael were sitting either side of Petunia and Vernon, but they still looked uncomfortable. Lily was sitting next to James and her head was resting on his shoulder as he whispered into her ear, trying to make her laugh. Finally a small smile came onto her face and she lifted her head, to look at him.

"I still can't believe I did that."

"But you did, and that was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, well that and Sirius."

"What did I do?" Sirius asked.

"I was telling Lily again about Christmas day, when you spiked our Butterbeer."

"Ahh," Sirius sighed, "good times, good times."

"And how she tried to fly afterwards."

"Oh I don't remember that."

"And then how you proposed to Goldie."

Sirius turned red, "Ah yes well um, I was drunk."

Jane eyes Sirius carefully, "Sirius shall I pretend that I didn't here that?"

"Yes please Mama Jane."

Jane nodded, then shook her head, "The things you guys get up to in school and get away with. I don't know. If we'd have done that sort of thing we would have been given millions of detentions."

"Oh we get detentions for it, but only when we get caught."

"True although we did get caught more than most houses I have to say."

"Why? Weren't you careful enough?"

"Oh sure we were." Adam broke in, "But someone held a grudge against me."

Jane laughed, "I remember what you did though and may I say Adam that you deserved it."

Adam also laughed, "Well what did you do?" Sirius pressed.

"It was when I was in first year, I got bored one day and decided to do a bit of redecorating in the entrance hall. So I uh, turned the walls bright pink and managed to banish a portrait on the wall."

"So who had a grudge against you? The wall?"

"No, it turns out that the portrait that I banished was a cousin of one of the portrait that hung in the Gryffindor common room. As well from that day on, the portrait hated me." Adam shook his head, "Never, never do wrong to a picture even the still moving ones Muggles have, you never know what might happen."

Everyone laughed, everyone that is apart from Petunia and Vernon. They sat stiffly, up right in their chairs, faces scowling. That was what it was like for the rest of the meal. Adam, Jane, James and Sirius took it in turns to tell funny stories about their time at Hogwarts. One of the stories Sirius told was the one where Lily had thrown James into the Black Lake. Everyone laughed at that, and then Lily added that Sirius would have gone in right behind him, if he hadn't been too far away.

"So, Petunia," Adam said trying to include Lily sister as they waited for desert, "where do you work?"

Petunia glared at him, then sniffed, "I work in an office."

"Oh uh well what kind of work do you do?"

"I make sure that my boss knows where to go and at what times."

Adam nodded and remain silent, so Jane had a go, "Where do you work Vernon?"

"I'm the deputy director of a company called Grunings."

"Okay and what does the company do?"

"We make drills."

Jane stared at him, "Um okay, er." She turned and looked round the table for help, and Lily stepped in.

"Drills are electric tools, and they're sometimes used to build houses."

"Ooh Lily are you talking about eleccity again?" James asked excited.

Lily nodded, "Yes, but its electricity. Not elec- well anyway not what ever you said."

James nodded, "Right and what do these drills look like?"

"How about I show you later James?" Michael suggested, "Adam, Jane you can come along as well."

"Yes I might just do that. We could even get one our selves Jane."

Vernon shook his head, "Amazing,"" he muttered, "Amazing, they don't even know what drills are!"

"And this er electricity. What is it?" Adam asked.

"But you've got it in your own home." Lily exclaimed. "Its what makes the lights turn on."

"Really? I didn't know that." Adam's face had a look of wonder on it.

"But surly you have to pay a bill for the lights?"

Adam shrugged, "I don't know. Azzie and Quen sort all that out for us. Jane we'll have to ask them about the lights when we get home."

Jane nodded, "Yes we will. I wonder what else we have at home that we don't know about?"

The conversation was cut off then as Sara appeared with the desert, Sirius liked his lips when he saw it.

"Wow, I think I'm now so hungry I could eat The Giant Squid."

"Oh I wouldn't try that Sirius." Adam smiled at him, "Trust me, its not as easy as you think."

Sirius grinned, and dived his folk into the pudding. And even after the slight upset at the beginning the lunch went okay. Sara was quite happy with it although she thought it was a shame that Petunia and Vernon couldn't get on with the rest but after a while she had forgotten about them and had been laughing along with everyone else. She was sad to see Jane and Adam go, and also more than a bit worried. However after Jane had assured her that someone was already watching the house, she felt better. Soon after Adam and Jane had left Lily and her friends also got ready. Lily didn't bother say goodbye to Petunia; it would have been a waste of breath. Instead she hugged her mother and father, then took James' hand, and with a pop disapparated. The two of them were quickly followed by Alice, Marigold, Mary, Frank, Sirius and Remus. Sara stared at the place where her daughter had been, then looked at her husband.

"Do you think we were right to send her there?"

"Yes," Michael whispered, "What ever happens, we were right when we sent her there. She belongs and she's happy."

Sara nodded, then turned and went inside to spend the rest of the evening with Petunia and Vernon, fervently hoping that it wouldn't be long before, either Lily, or the Potters visited again.


	30. The Final

AN/ Hey guys. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and here's the next one. Hope you like it. :)

The Final

As soon as James got back to Hogwarts he gathered the quiddich team together and gave them the most gruelling timetable they had ever looked at. Every day they had to be up at five for a practice and every break time and lunch time they either had a team practice or a talk on strategies. He concentrated so much on quiddich he forgot his seventeenth birthday and when Lily told he what day it was, he said he didn't want a party with lots of people just something between him and his friends. So Lily arranged a small 'get together' in the Room of Requirement, with the help of Sirius and the others. There they watched James open his presents and played all the Muggle party games Lily knew, as well as some magical ones. It was a relief to have something to laugh about after what had happened the previous day and everyone agreed that it was better than the big party that was normally held.

* * *

A week after the Gryffindors got back from the Evans', the final game in the Quiddich house cup came. Gryffindor was up against Slytherin again. It was a rematch, and this time Gryffindor were determined not to lose. James had been keeping his teams noses to the grindstones, however on the day before the match, James cancelled the practice, telling the players to get some rest before 'the big day' as Sirius liked to call it. The players did as they were told and soon the day was upon them. They dressed in silence and walked out onto the pitch, before turning towards James and waiting for their pre-match talk.

"Okay," James said as his team assembled round him, "watch out for the Bludgers, and if you see anyone of the Slytherins near one, be careful. Its not only the Beaters who will hit them at us." he turned to the Chasers. "No stupid passes. Goldie, cover them all okay and if we lose the Qwaffel don't worry about it just try your damned hardest to get it back. Right now Beaters, hit those bloody balls as hard as you can at the snakes, okay? We want to win this game."

"And what shall I do?" the Keeper asked tentatively.

James looked at him, then patted him on the shoulder, "You mate have to stop the goals."

The boy nodded, and the team broke apart. James turned towards the stands where Lily and the rest of the Gryffindors were sitting and nodded once. Lily pulled out her wand, waved it and the small bubble that had been protecting then Gryffindor team from being over heard disappeared, however they still didn't hear the full noise of the crowd. James had had Lily perform another spell on all the players that blocked out all the noise apart from the commentator and the people who they wanted to hear. So at that moment even though Lily was sitting far away James could hear her every word. He heard her as she whispered, "I love you James, but be careful."

James grinned, "Love you too Lils...and I'm always careful."

Lily's smile widened as she heard that, and she turned to Sirius who was making a face, "Stop it Black or I'll cut you and Mari off."

Sirius turned to her, "I'm making faces at the snakes not you sweet Lily-Petal."

"I still don't see why your not on the team Sirius." Alice pulled her coat tighter round her body, trying to block out the wind.

"Because Shorty, I didn't want to be. Regulus is on the team, and as I have never followed in my families footsteps I will not be on the team." He shrugged, "Ooh their off!"

And they were. The six Chasers were flying up and down the pitch, Gryffindor had the ball, but were finding it difficult to get passed the Slytherin Chasers, until with only a flash of scarlet, James zoomed right through the middle of the group, scattering the Slytherins and enabling the Gryffindors to go for the goal posts. Marigold sped along side the Chaser carrying the Qwaffel keeping an eye out for the opposing team. The player pulled up just short of the posts, and threw the ball to Marigold who had kept up her sped. Confused at the sudden change the Keeper flew the wrong way as Marigold threw the ball with all her might into the hop. A cheer went up from the stands as not only the Gryffindors but also the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws celebrated. But it was only the first goal, and there were many more to come. The Gryffindors kept up their new found speed, due to the enthusiasm of the crowd. After the first goal, some of the players had insisted on getting their hearing back to normal and Lily had done as they'd asked. James was one of the only players who still had half of his hearing. Marigold was another but, Lily could tell that it wouldn't be long before, she too would want to hear properly again. In the end Lily gave all the players back their hearing, even James. James knew when Lily lifted her spell as the full weight of the noise pressed down on his ears.

"What's happened?" he asked hoping that Lily hadn't stopped him from being able to communicate with her.

"Nothing," she answered. "its just better if you can all hear properly."

James hovered in the air for a second surveying the game. Gryffindor was still wining but only by a few points and Slytherin were becoming more bold in their actions. A Bludger came rocketing towards him and James dived. Regulas, the Slytherin seeker watched as James flew straight down, and thinking that he saw a flash of gold leant forwards and shot after him. James pulled up centimetres from the grass, and he heard Lily gasp and swear.

"Shit James don't do that!"

"Lily-Petal language please." Sirius tutted, "There are children near by." He indicated to the first years sitting a row below them who had turned their attention from the game to their swearing head girl.

"Sorry." Lily muttered. Then jumped up, "JAMES LOOK OUT!"

Even if James' ears hadn't been tuned in to hear Lily's voice from what ever distance, he would have been able to hear her, so loud was her shout. James whipped his head round and managed to move out of the way just in time as Regulas flashed passed him and unable to stop crashed into the stands. There were several cries but Lily was still shouting.

"JAMES! ON YOUR RIGHT!"

James looked to his right and saw a Bludger flying straight, hard and fast towards him. It was so close knew he'd not be able to move out the way. Instead a second before it hit him, he threw himself off his broom and onto the floor. As soon as the Bludger had passed him, he was up and back in the air.

"Thank you Lils." he whispered.

Lily flopped back onto her seat, "If he gets hurt, I'll kill him."

"Oh don't worry about him getting hurt Lily-Petal. Its more likely we're going to go deaf, with the way your shouting." Sirius massaged his ears and put on a comical face. Lily laughed then turned back to the game. Regulas was being taken off the pitch and their reserve was bought on. Sirius didn't seem at all concerned about his brother and kept his eyes locked on Marigold. James smiled as the players changed. The reserve was a second year, fast flier but not very sharp eyes. The only thing James had to do to win the game would be to see the Snitch before him and hope that his broomstick was fast enough. It was getting tense now, the players had been on the pitch for almost two hours, and their weariness was starting to show. Then a time out was called, and the player assembled round their captains.

"What are we going to do James?" Marigold asked panting. "They're catching us up, and I don't know how much longer we can hold on."

James sighed, "I know, but your playing great. All of you." he turned away from them and looked at Lily, "Can we have the bubble?"

"All ready got it."

"What do you think we should do?"

Lily frowned, "I don't know James. Your the captain, believe in yourself and you'll be able to win."

James nodded and turned back, "Okay, listen. We can do this, you have to believe we can win against them, believe that and they'll stand no chance."

"But there must be something more we can do then believe that we can win."

"Yes there it. Right so this is what we're going to do. Beaters you guys have to help the Chasers, they're flying around like mad, and using their energy. Chasers pass to the Beaters for a few second to confuse the snakes. Okay? And try diversions. Like I did before the first goal. We've all got to pull together to win the this thing all right."

"Yeah all right." Marigold grinned.

"Hands in?"

The team turned and they saw Sirius standing there, grinning, "Hands in?" he repeated.

James smiled at his friend and nodded, "Hands in. Come on guys. Padfoot join in too."

James held his hand out, and seven other hands joined his, "On three, Gryffindor."

"THREE!" they turned again. This time there was no one behind them but Lily, Alice, Remus, Frank and Mary were standing up in the their seats and above their heads shone a large number three.

James turned back, "On three again."

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" the Gryffindor stand shouted.

"GO GRYFFINDOR!"

Eight hands shot up in the air and the huddle of players clambered onto their brooms again zooming into the air. Sirius was perched on the back of James' broom and was dropped off by the captain in his seat. Lily grinned at him, "Go Gryffindor." and lifted her wand again to shoot red and gold sparks into the air. It was only when James had flown away that he realised Lily's hair had been red and gold. He turned back to the stands and saw that all of the Gryffindors hair was now red and gold. James grinned, and knew that Lily had seen how dejected the Gryffindor team was and was trying to give them hope, even though they were already winning.

"Come on Gryffindor!"

James flew higher desperate now to catch the Snitch. He knew his team were tired and even though they were now following his instructions, it wasn't going well. Marigold had almost been hit by a bludger but had managed to avoid it by doing a mini loop the loop. Sirius yells of outrage could be heard as Frank and Remus held him back, trying to stop him from summoning his own broom and knocking the Beater who had hit the bludger out. Then out of the corner of his eye James saw a flash of gold. The Snitch! James dove down after the small gold ball and the shouting became even louder. Lily was gripping Sirius' arm so hard the boy though that it might drop off. Then James pulled up from the dive again just inches from the ground and this time shot straight up in the air. Up and up went James until he was lost from view. The Slytherin Seeker followed James up and soon he too had gone. As soon as the Seekers had disappeared Marigold grabbed the qwaffel from the Slytherin Chasers hand and shot off in the direction of the goal. She didn't know whether James had actually seen the Snitch or not, all she knew was that he had caused a diversion, one that was this time big enough to stop both teams playing. By the time the Slytherins had noticed that they were no longer in possession of the ball it was too late; Marigold had scored. James heard the cheering, and lent forwards even more on his broom. He could tell that the Slytherin Seeker was behind him and he knew that he would soon realise the Snitch was no where to be seen. James had actually seen the Snitch but it had disappeared again just after he started his dive, but realising that all eyes were on him he decided to act as if he was following the little gold ball. Finally James got bored of the altitude and dove again, he appeared from the clouds just in time to see Gryffindor score another goal, and the Snitch hovering just above the Slytherin goal posts. James was almost in the middle of the pitch and he knew that as soon as the Slytherin Seeker breached the clouds he too would see the snitch.

"I'll have to be fast." he muttered, and leant so low on his broom he was almost lying on it. Following James' command the broom shot forwards like a bullet, players dodged out of James' way as he flew straight at the posts. He shot through the hop, hand stretching out until they clasped the cold, smooth round golden ball. James sat up and held his hand up, triumph on his face. There was silent for a few seconds then the stands erupted. Gryffindor went crazy and a whole load of sparks, fireworks and even a big roaring lion all thanks to Lily. James flew up to the stands where she was sitting, and held his hand out to her, "Miss Evans, would you like a ride."

Lily grinned, "Of course Mr Potter."

She grabbed his hand and James pulled her up on to his broom, "James."

"Yes?"

James turned as best he could to look at her, as she lent forwards and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was long and they only broke apart when Marigold pulled up next to them, and Sirius gleefully reminded them that 'little children' watching, before then kissing Marigold.

"Hypocrite." Lily muttered and looped her arms around James waist as the boy flew off around the pitch, followed by the rest of his team. After two laps Lily insisted on being dropped off, so that James could go round on his own, and James consented. With Lily safely on the stands, the happy Marauder could really let loose. And he did, doing loop the loop again and again until he felt dizzy. Marigold laughed, "We won James! We won!"

"I know." James hugged her. "Well done Goldie, you shot most of our goals."

Marigold shrugged, "With the help of everyone else."

"GOLDIE!" Sirius came running over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Well done."

James turned looking for Lily and spotted her standing a few feet away watching him. He smiled at her and she ran into his arms.

"Well done Jami." She whispered happily, then her voice became serious, "But never to the Wonski feint that close to the ground ever again!"

James laughed and kissed her, "What ever you want Lils."

"Oi Padfoot!" Remus hurried over, "If we want to get the party started as soon as possible we have to go to Hogsmead now."

Sirius nodded, and kissed Marigold's hand, "I'll be back soon."

He disappeared with Remus and Lily turned to James, raising an eyebrow, "Your not going with them?"

"No, I can't I'll be missed. But I don't mind as long I've got you next to me."

Lily grinned, "Go get a shower and clean clothes on. I'll wait for you outside the changing room."

"Oh no you won't Lily." Alice appeared and grabbed her arm. "The boys have gone to Hogsmead and which means we have something to do. Remember?"

Lily gasped, "Oh yes I forgot." she turned to James, "I have to do something. Can you last twenty minutes without me?"

James pursed his lips and then made a face, "Okay fine, I'll try to survive."

"Good boy." Lily laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek before vanishing into the crowd with Alice.

* * *

Twenty minutes later the Gryffindor quiddich team made their way to the common room. They had taken their time getting changed as they knew, Sirius and the others would need that time to get the supplies from Hogsmead and to get the common room ready. But when they got to the common room, there was no one there, and everything was lying in exactly the same place as it had been when people left to watch the match.

"Where are they all?" Marigold asked.

"No idea." James muttered, then turned to the others, "Um I'll be back in a minute. Look round and see if they've left any clues."

The team nodded and James ran up the stairs to his dorm. He rummaged in his case until he found The Marauders Map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

James searched the map for names of the Gryffindors and then saw Lily's name outside The Room of Requirement. Her name tag moved as she ushered a group of what James thought to be first years, judging by the names, through the door.

"What are you playing at Pads?" he whispered. The Room of Requirement was one of the biggest secrets the Marauders had, apart from the map and what they all turned into every full moon. He returned to the common room.

"Found anything?"

"Nope. This is ridiculous." Marigold looked at James, "Why don't we just wait here until they come and look for us."

"Because I know where they are. Come on follow me."

James lead them out of the common room and along the corridor up a set of stair cases, along a few more corridors, down another set of stairs before stopping.

"Um James where are we?" one of the beaters asked.

"A place that I hope none of you are going to remember." James spoke grimly. "Padfoot!"

Sirius appeared from around the corner, "Prongs! You found us. Lily-Petal didn't think you would."

"Padfoot what the-"

"Nu uh, later Prongs first we've got a party to have." he waved his wand and strips of silk flew out and tied themselves around all the the teams eyes, with the exception of Marigold and James.

"Right hold hands and I'll take you to your party." the team did as they were told and Sirius lead them down the corridor and through the doors of The Room of Requirement. Following his friend James saw that there was a wall blocking off the main section of the room and he frowned at Sirius.

"Um Padfoot, what's that for?"

"So that they don't have to go in wearing blindfolds. Okay guys take them off and for the love of Merlin when you go in there look surprised."

Sirius slipped behind the door and James turned to look at his team mates, "Ready?" They nodded , and James grinned suddenly, "Then lets party!" and with that the quidditch captain and head boy lead his triumphant team into a night full of fun and laughter.


	31. The Beginning of the Dark Days

AN/ Hey guys. This will be the last chapter for a few weeks as I am going away on a school trip and I can't take my laptop with me, and we have no internet where I'm going, but I promise as soon as I get back to upload two chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

The Beginning of the Dark Days

"Wow." Sirius flopped down onto the sofa, "I am absolutely shattered."

It was the day after the quiddich match and the Gryffindors were only just starting to appear. Sirius surprisingly was the second Seventh year to get up, the first being Remus.

"I'm not surprised, considering how late you stayed up, in fact have you even gone to bed?"

"No," Sirius grinned at Remus, "Goldie and I got a bit carried away last night and well I don't really know what happened, but what I do know is that I didn't sleep."

Remus nodded, "Where's your girlfriend now then?"

"Um good question. I think I last saw her inside a classroom on the fifth floor." Sirius looked thoughtful, the shrugged, "I better go see if she's there."

Remus nodded again, "Yes you'd better. And uh Padfoot?"

"Yeah?" Sirius stopped on his way out of the portrait hole.

"How come you haven't got a hangover yet?"

Sirius grinned and pulled a bottle out of his pocket, "Cause I haven't stopped drinking yet." then he turned and left. Remus had only been sitting there for five minutes when Sirius returned.

"Merlin, I am so tired."

"Um Padfoot?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you found Marigold yet?"

"I'm looking for Goldie?" Sirius sat up, "Oh yeah, I remember. I got to the sixth floor I think and then realised that I'd forgotten something."

"And what as that?"

Sirius shrugged, "I dunno, I can't remember."

"Don't you think you'd better find Marigold before the teachers do?"

"Oh good point. Ah well off I go again."

This time Sirius didn't return. Remus shook his head, and returned to his book, only to be disturbed by the arrival of Alice and Frank, who both looked as if they had run a marathon and gone through a hedge backwards.

"Agh, Remus please tell me James was telling the truth when he said that you guys have a cure for hangovers?"

"Yeah, here. I went a got a whole load, for you guys as I thought you might need them." Remus handed them each a glass. They drank it without any complaints, which was quite amazing considering how bad it tasted.

"So, where are the others?" Alice asked.

"Um Sirius is trying to remember where he left Marigold and the others are still asleep."

"Wait Sirius has lost Marigold?"

"Apparently. He thinks she's in a classroom on the fifth floor."

"Well lets hope he finds her, otherwise Lily is going to kill him."

"Where is Lily by the way? I didn't see either her or James in our dorm."

Alice shrugged, "No idea, she's not in ours either, Frank and I were up there, with Mary."

"So they're also somewhere around school?"

"Must be." Frank sighed and massaged his forehead, "Oh wow, I should never touch a drink again."

He laid down on the sofa, and Alice started to play with his hair. Everything was peaceful until a second year appeared and told Remus that Professor McGonigall wanted to see Lily and James.

"Why?"

The boy shrugged, "I think it might have something to do with the party we had last night."

"Does she look angry?"

"Um, what do you mean by-"

"What did she look like?"

"Oh well her lips were very thin and she looked as if someone had just told her they'd forgotten their homework of the second time in a row."

"Oh. Right so pretty angry."

The boy nodded, and Remus stood up.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked.

"To find Lily and James. McGonigall will go mental if they're not there as soon as possible."

"She's already angry at them." Alice muttered, she was about to continue then stopped, "And I'm not even going to say what I was going to because it is something that I would never normally say."

Remus shook his head at the girls rambling, thanked the boy and hurried up to his dorm. Peter was still asleep so Remus moved quietly round the room trying to find the map. As soon as he got it he knew where Lily and James were. Dropping the piece of parchment he ran out the common room and to the Room of Requirement. Once he got there though Remus had no idea how to get them out. He knew how to make the room appear but not how to find the people who were already in there. _ I suppose I could try the room we had the party in,_ he thought and that's exactly what he did. A door formed in the wall and Remus pulled it open to be greeted by the room that they had had the party in. It was the same way as people had left it the previous night. And in the middle of the floor was a bed, with two people sleeping on it. "Lily! James!" Remus ran over, then stopped, as James sat up and put a finger to his lips.

"Shhh, Moony, Lily's sleeping. What's wrong?"

"McGonigall wants both of you."

"Oh shit." James groaned. "Is she angry?"

"Ohh yeah."

"Shit." James repeated, then bent to down to Lily, "Hey Lils, time to wake up."

"I don't want to James."

"But we have to, McGonigall wants us."

Lily groaned and rolled slightly onto her side, "Both of us?"

"Yep, come on, we'd better go."

James was about to lift the blanket that covered him and Lily then stopped, "Uh Moony, do you think you could either turn your back or um..."

"Or leave?"

James nodded, "Um yeah, if you wouldn't mind."

"Sure I'll wait for you outside."

Remus left and Lily sat up, "Oh my god, James did last night really happen?"

"Um judging by what I'm wearing I'd say yes."

Lily nodded slowly, then muttered, "Crap. I need to see Mari."

"Well you can do that after we've seen the dragon."

Lily laughed, "The Dragon. I love it James. Why didn't we think of it before?"

"No idea." James smiled, "Come on beautiful, otherwise we won't live till tomorrow."

Slowly they climbed out of bed, got changed and then met Remus outside the door. The werewolf didn't mention anything about the state he'd found them in, and both Lily and James were grateful.

"Uh Moony." James ventured as they made their way to Professor McGonigall's office."

"Yes."

"Um about how you found us this morning. Can you uh, you know like not mention it to anyone?"

Remus smiled and turned to the couple, "Mention what? I found you cleaning up the Room of Requirement so I have no idea what your talking about."

"Thank you Remus!" Lily cried and threw her arms around him.

"Any time. Good luck by the way." Remus said as they came to a stop outside Professor McGonigall's office.

"Thanks, we gonna need it." James took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in!"

James pushed the door open and he and Lily shuffled in. As they entered Professor McGonigall looked up, her face disapproving.

"How was the party last night?"

"Um it was good Professor."

"So you had fun then?"

"Yes Professor, but I'm not too sure about the others."

"No neither am I. I trust you know the whereabouts of your friends Miss Evans?"

"Uh which one Professor?"

"Miss Lucas."

"I assume she's in the common room or in our dorm."

"She's in the Hospital Wing, Miss Evans. She was found in my classroom this morning, drunk and muttering something about swimming."

"Oh. Um well uh is she okay?"

"She'll be fine Miss Evans, but my point is that Miss Lucas was drunk. You had alcohol at that party and there were students there far too young to be drink alcohol."

"But Professor-"

"It is your duty Miss Evans, and yours too Mr Potter to ensure that the younger students do not drink any alcohol."

"But Professor, we put charms round the table with alcohol on it so that younger student couldn't get it. Only the upper to years were able to get to the alcohol."

"Then how is it that a first year is now lying in the Hospital Wing, throwing up, because he's drunk?"

Lily looked at James, having run out of answers. Luckily James still had plenty, "Someone probably left their glass out and the first year drank it."

"Do you know who the first year is Mr Potter?"

"Uh no Professor."

"The first years father happens to be a head of the Goblin Liason in the Ministry. If he found out what has happened then it would be very hard for either you or Miss Evans to get a job. Do you understand?"

"Yes Professor." James looked down at the floor.

"That's all. You may go, and next time that such an event happens be more careful."

Lily and James nodded, then left the room.

"I'm going to the Hospital Wing." Lily announced.

"I'll come with you. I want to see the first year who got drunk."

Lily nodded, "Okay I'll go see Mari and you go see the first year."

When they got to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey let them in telling them where Marigold was. When James asked about the first year, the matron pursed her lips, then pointed to a bed that had the curtains drawn. James thanked her, squeezed Lily's hand and left. By the time Lily returned with Marigold, James had managed to speak with the boy, and was also ready to go. He took Marigold from Lily and supported her as they walked.

"And what did he say?"

"Hum, who?"  
"The boy. How did he get the alcohol."

"He's got a brother in the sixth year and he gave it to him."

Lily shook her head, then stopped, "Ow that hurt. Who was the boy?"

"Rodger Perte."

"So we have to have a word with Richard then."

"Yep, seems like we do."

They reached the common room and James lay Marigold on the sofa.

"How'd it go?" Remus asked, handing them glasses of the hangover cure.

"We got told off for getting a first year drunk."

Remus nodded, "Rodger Perte."

James looked up, "How did you know?"

"His brother's looking for him. Richard worried about how much he Fire Whiskey he gave him."

"Where is he now?"

"Went to ask Professor McGonigall where he is."

Lily sighed and leant back against a chair, "Well we might be back in The Dragons good books if Richard admits he gave the alcohol to Rodger."

James nodded, "Yeah, we might."

"Lily! There you are." Alice ran up and hugged Lily, "Oh and you've found Marigold as well. Where was she? Sirius is practically tearing his hair out because he can't find her."

"She was in the Hospital Wing. Someone found her in McGonigall's classroom this morning."

"Wow, so Sirius was right about one thing."

"What was that?"

"He thought that he had left Marigold in a fifth floor classroom, but couldn't remember which one."

There was silence for a second then, they all started laughing. Their laughter woke Marigold up, who, after being told what had happened also started laughing.

"Can you imagine him?" She asked, "Running around looking for me, whilst still drinking. Oh wow, where is? I have to find him."

"Try the dorm."

Marigold got up, swayed slightly then slowly made her way towards the boys staircase.

Lily gasped, "Oh Mari, wait!" She jumped up and ran over to her friend and whispered something in her ear.

A smiled spread onto Marigold face and she laughed, "Their in my case Lily. In my wash bag."

"Oh thank-you!" Lily hugged her then ran towards the girls staircase, only to be block by James.

"What's wrong?"

"James I need to do something."

"But what Lily, tell me please."

"I need to take a tablet."

James frowned, "A tablet?"

"Yes James a tablet."

"But what-" James stopped then his eyes widened, "Oh right, yeah well okay. Sorry."

He moved out of the way and Lily ran up the stairs. The moment she had gone Alice jumped up and followed her. She found Lily sitting on Marigold's bed holding a box of morning after pills. Alice gasped, "Lily! Oh My God! Really?"

Lily looked up then nodded slowly, "Yeah really. We got too carried away last night."

"And one thing lead to another, etcetera, I know. So the big question. What was it like?"

Lily frowned, "Oh no Alice, I'm not telling you that."

"What! Why?"

"Because that is between me and James."

Alice sighed, "Oh okay then. Oh well. Are you going to take the pill or not?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

Lily took two out of the packet and Alice summoned some water and watched as Lily swallowed the tablets.

"There all done." She grinned at Alice, "Now we can go have some fun."

Alice groaned, "I hope you don't mean alcohol, because I've had enough of that stuff."

Lily laughed, "No course not. I mean lets go enjoy the rest of the day."

She took Alice's arm and they went back to the common room. When they got there however, they found everyone sitting in silence. They were all looking at a girl who was standing by the portrait hole, holding a newspaper.

"What's happened?" Lily asked.

"There's been another attack." Remus informed her.

Lily strode forwards and took the paper from the girls hand. On the front page written in bold letters were the words; 'LORD VOLDERMORT' STRIKES AGAIN!

"Read it out loud Lils, we all want to here it." Lily glanced at James, then turned to the paper and started to read.

LORD VOLDERMORT STRIKES AGAIN!

_A report came to us yesterday that a Mr and Mrs Limbert, both of the non-wizarding comunity, were found murdered in their family home. According the the coroner there were no wounds on their skin or any signs that they could have been killed by an object. The bodies were found after neighbours reported seeing a flash of green light from the Limbert's home. The flash of green was also reported a few months ago, when Mr Albert Jenkins, Ex-auror was killed by the killing curse. The Daily Prophet reported that this was the work of the dark wizard who calls himself 'Lord Voldermort'. It is thought that he is also responsible for these two murders as well. As far as we can tell Mr and Mrs Limbert had no connections to the magical world. Incidences involving 'Lord Voldermort' have been increasing only last week the Muggle family of a student from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was attacked after it was found out that the son of some Death Eaters, the name of 'Lord Voldermort's followers, was staying there._

Lily stopped and looked up at James, "How did they know about that? I thought your parents were going to keep it quite."

"They were, but obviously the unusual activity around your house got the paper's attention."

Lily was silent for a second, then kept reading.

_Thankfully no one was hurt. In order to protect the family, their name will not be mentioned. However it did come to our attention that the boy who the Death Eaters were looking for is the son of Oltem and Augusta Black. Over the past weeks these incidents have been increasing and people are starting to fear, that 'Lord Voldermort' is growing stronger, and believe that dark times are now upon the wizarding world. _

When Lily stopped reading the article and dropped it on the floor. She looked up at her friends and saw that their thought mirrored her own.

"Its just the beginning." Whispered Alice softly, "Just the beginning of something much bigger to come." She looked up and her eyes met Lily's.

"And what ever comes we'll fight it." the voice came from the boys staircase and everyone turned to see Sirius standing there. "What ever is thrown at us, we'll fight it and we'll win." he looked at James, "Right Prongs?"

And even though it was a serious moment, James smiled, as he got up and walked over to Sirius clapping his hand, "Right Pads."

"But his family killed your granddad James. How can you trust him?" James whirled round and glared at the common room.

"How can I trust him? I trust him because he has been my best friend since first year, and he has always been at my side. Yes his family might have been responsible for the death of my grandfather but that was his family not _him. _You have to understand that, it doesn't matter what your family has done, or what they are know for, each of us has a different destiny, and they're not always the same."

"But if someone was attacked because of-"

"You know that papers make things up don't you?" Lily asked, "My family wasn't attacked. Two men asked for an interview with Sirius and when he didn't give them any information they tried to attack him. That's when we stepped in."

"So was someone hurt?"

"No."

"But-"

"Enough!" James walked over to Lily and put his arm around her, "You heard what we said and if you don't like it tough luck, but that's how it is in our world. Come on Lils, shall we play some exploding snap?"

Lily nodded, "Yes, but are you sure you want to lose against me again?"

"Ha lose? I let you win my dear sweet Lily-Petal."

"Aww thank you Jami, but don't expect me to lose just so that you can win."

James pouted, "But Lily-"

"Deal the cards Potter and no cheating."

James grinned and dealt.

* * *

The next morning things at the school were not good, it turned out that Mr and Mrs Limbert's granddaughter went to Hogwarts and the girls father was an Auror who had managed to capture some Death Eaters. The girl was in Hufflepuff and the news spread around the school that both she and her parents now needed to go into hiding.

"She's not allowed to come back to school." one of her friends whispered. "Her father has to teach her everything about magic."

The school suddenly felt like a less happy place and then the paper reported that a witch was missing, and then the very next day a Muggle child. The boy who had been taken had apparently been playing in the park with his friends, and mother. His mother had turned her back for one second to look at something and when she looked back, her son had gone. Lily shook her head as she read it and realised just how lucky, she and her family had been that the two followers who came to her house hadn't been actual Death Eaters. The Marauders tried even harder now to make people laugh and James never let Lily out of his sight even though they were safe behind the walls of Hogwarts. The students and teachers noticed James' behaviour and wondered why Lily allowed it. But what they didn't know and what only Lily's friends knew was that she was scared. Small tendrils of fear were growing inside of her, and they were only suppressed when James was with her. At night it was worse and at weekends she had started sleeping in James' bed. Lily wasn't the only one who was getting worried. Her friends and some of the younger students were the same. Finally the tension in the Gryffindor got too much and Lily and James decided to arrange an evening of fun. On Saturday evening four weeks after the disappearance of the Muggle boy, all the Gryffindors gathered in the common room. The seventh years had spent the whole day re-arranging the furniture and getting food from the kitchens.

"Okay. Right quite everybody!" Lily shouted over the noise, and slowly all the talking stopped.

"Thank-you." Said James taking over, "As you know things outside the school have been getting worse and well because of that we have all been having a hard time. But tonight we're going to forget about all of that and are going to have some fun. So let lose and uh for everyone's information there is no alcohol today just juice. So if anybody gets drunk," his eyes flicked to Rodger and then to his brother, "it will be your own fault and you'll have to explain yourself to Professor McGonigall. Understood?"

"Yes." came the collective reply.

"Good. Well then lets have some fun. Hit it Sirius!" Lily called turning to look at the black haired boy.

Sirius grinned and waved his wand at a pile of instruments on the floor. Immediately they flew into the air and started to play and jig.

James grabbed Lily's arm, and pulled her onto the 'dance floor' in the centre if the room, "Come on Lils, lets show them."

Lily grinned as Marigold, Sirius, Alice and Frank lined up beside them. Marigold counted to three and then the three couples started dancing. It was a dance to fit the music and Professor McGonigall had taught it to them, after a little begging from Lily. Lily had also tried to persuade the teacher to come and join them but she hadn't given them a straight answer. The students watched as they danced and soon joined in. By the time the music changed all of the Gryffindors were dancing. All the songs were country ones, the music of which Lily had asked her mother to send to her. After the second dance, the music stopped and Lily and James went back to the small stage they had set up.

"Is everybody having fun?" Lily asked.

"YES!"

"Good, well now we're going to do some other dances, and these ones have steppes. So James and I will walk you through them and then we'll dance to them okay?"

"Yes."

"Right then, everybody get into pairs, boys on the left. What do you want Sirius?" Lily asked turning to Sirius.

"Can James come and dance with me please?"

Lily sighed, "Fine. James go dance with the second love of your life."

"Second! Why am I the second?"

Lily turned and smiled sweetly at Sirius, "Because I'm the first because I'm his girlfriend. Now shut up and get in line."

Sirius grinned and grabbed James' arm, pulling him off as Marigold joined Lily. Once everyone was settled Lily began to call out the instructions, demonstrating what should be done with Marigold when people didn't understand them. Finally they finished explaining and with a wave of Lily's wand the music started up again. When the dance had finished Marigold took over from Lily, allowing the red head to dance with James again. After six dances being explained they went back to normal dancing. Marigold spun passed Lily and James with a mug in her hand, grinning wildly.

"I think Goldie might have got hold of some alcohol after all." James whispered to Lily as he twirled her round.

Lily shrugged, "If she has, she got it from Sirius. Not my problem."

"It is if she's your friend."

"Not if Blacks got her drunk."

"Your really quite heartless sometime Lily-Petal aren't you?"

Lily laughed, "Only when I want to be. But right now, I'm feeling tired."

James grinned, "Bed time? Or fun time?"

"Bed time James." Lily slapped his arm. "But maybe a little fun time, depending on who's up there and whether we can lock the door."

"Oh we can lock the door all right, we just have to put a _muffilito_ charm around it as well."

Lily stopped dancing and grabbed his hand, "Then what are we waiting for?"

They disappeared up to James' dorm, but the dancing continued. The students had listened to what the Heads had said and they fully intended to 'let lose' as they danced away into the night. The next morning more than half of the Gryffindors hadn't slept and they stumbled groggily down to breakfast. Lily and James were one of the first ones in the great hall, together with Remus and Mary. Although none of them had been up late, Remus had dark rings under his eyes and his face was drawn.

Lily leant towards James, "Is it the full moon soon?"

James glanced at Remus then nodded, "Yeah, I would say in two or three days."

Lily nodded slowly, "Okay and I guess you'll go out?"

"Can't avoid it Lils, but at least its a weekend."

Lily sighed, "Yeah okay but I'll wait up till you come back."

"It'll be late." James warned taking a rash of bacon and offering it to her.

"I don't care." Lily answered accepting the rash.

"Fine, just don't blame me if your tired in the morning."

"Don't worry I will." Lily grinned and kissed him. "Its my choice Jami, so I'll take the consequences...if there are any. Just make sure you aren't caught."

"Hey Lils, its us, and we've been doing this for years."

"Yeah I know. I just can't help it you know."

"Yes I do. Don't worry, its nice to have someone worry about you."

"Hey!"

Lily and James looked up. The voice was high pitched and didn't sound like anyone they knew. To their surprise they saw Marigold standing in front of them. The blond haired girl was bobbing slightly up and down on her heels.

Sirius came running up behind her, "Goldie there you are! Don't run away from me again. Now sit down and eat." when Marigold didn't sit Sirius pushed her down. "Sit!"

"I'm not a dog, Black." Marigold giggled and Sirius sighed.

"Is she drunk?" Lily asked Sirius.

"No, I didn't give any alcohol to her last night. Maybe its something she ate?"

"Ooh look! There's a ghost. Yay!." She cocked her head, "Do you think it would let me play with it?"

Lily stared at her friend.

"What have you eaten this morning?"

Marigold shrugged. "I didn't eat anything, but I tried some of that cofie or cofey, thing you drink last night. And it was amazing."

"You drank coffee?"

Marigold nodded, a strange smile on her face. "Yeah, do you have any more?"

"Um.. sure. Wait. Did you drink all the packs?" Marigold didn't even need to answer. The look on her face told Lily enough.

She groaned. "Oh God."

"What's wrong?" Alice plonked herself down.

"Mari drank my whole supply of coffee," Alice's mouth dropped open. "in one night"

James and Sirius just stared at them. They had no idea what coffee was.

"Um what's coffee?"

"Its a hot drink, a bit like tea."

"But how did Goldie end up hyper?"

"Because of the caffeine. If she's drunk all my packs of coffee, then she's had a lot of caffeine."

"How many packs did you have?"

"Um about eight or nine."

James and Sirius' mouths dropped open, "Wow."

Alice grabbed hold of Marigold as she started to get up, "Oh no Marigold. How about you have some orange juice or some er some toast?"

Marigold looked at the food disdainfully, "Can't I have some coffee?"

"No, here take some toast."

Lily placed a slice on Marigold's plate, "Eat doggy."

Marigold giggled, "I'm not a dog, Lily. I'm a cat."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Eat kitty."

Marigold grabbed the bread, "I want to go for a run."

"Then go." Lily sighed. "But don't go anywhere near the Black Lake."

"Okay." Marigold jumped up, "Anyone coming with me?"

"Miss Lucas?"

Marigold turned to see Professor McGonigall standing behind her, "Oh Professor, will you come for a run with me? I feel full of energy."

"No Miss Lucas I will not be joining you and in fact you will also not be going out." Marigold looked confused so the teacher elaborated, "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

Marigold nodded, "Can I go running after that?"

"I don't think you'll want to dear, but listen go along and see what Professor Dumbledore has to say."

Marigold nodded, "I know." She turned to her friends, "I'll run to Dumbledore's office."

She grinned at them and ran from the room. Professor McGonigall turned to look at James and Lily.

"I thought there was no alcohol at the dance last night."

"There wasn't Professor." Lily sighed. "Marigold's not drunk, she hyper on caffeine."

"Caffeine? She drank some coffee then?"

Lily nodded, "Yes and an awful lot of it."

"Um Professor. Why does Professor Dumbledore want to see Marigold?"

The teacher eyed Alice and the rest of Marigold's friends all looking eagerly at her and sighed, "I don't want this to be spread around school until it comes out, if it comes out, in the paper."

"And what's that?" Lily asked, already dreading the answer.

The teacher sighed again, "Lord Voldermort's supporters attacked Miss Lucas' house last night, and there were a few casualties and one death."

Lily took a drink of pumpkin juice, wetting her mouth and moved closer to James, her dread growing by the minute.

"And er who did they kill?" Sirius asked.

"Her mother, but her brother is also in danger of dying. He was seriously injured and the Healers aren't sure he'll survive."

"But she adores her brother." Alice whispered quietly.

"Professor Dumbledore will inform her about the incident and then she will most likely go to the hospital."

They nodded and Lily stood up, "I'm going to wait for her."

"I'll come." Alice jumped up from the bench.

"Why don't we all go?" Mary asked.

"I'm not sure that everybody should go, maybe just two. The two that Miss Lucas would be the most grateful to see." Professor McGonigal was still standing there.

"In that case I think Lily should go." Alice sat back down. "Your Mari's best friend."

"I'll go too." Sirius dropped his slice of toast, and got to his feet.

Lily nodded, "Okay then Black, off we go." she took his arm and after a quick glance at James, Sirius allowed himself to be lead from the room.

James watched them go, then stood up, Remus stared at him, "Where are you going?"

"I'm following them."

"Why? Prongs, Padfoot can look after Lily and anyway they're inside the school, nothing can hurt them."

"Yeah," Said James pulling out his wand, "nothing but Slytherins, who are also secretly supporters of Lord Voldermort."

He left them and Remus looked towards the door, and saw what James had spotted before hand. A group of Slytherins, who had tried to attack Lily before, just slipping out the room.

"Great." He muttered also getting to his feet, "Come on Wormtail, we've got to help Prongs."

"Can I come too?" Frank asked, and Remus nodded.

The three boys hurried after James, leaving Alice and Mary alone at the table. Alice picked up her glass and downed it, "Right, come on Mary. We're going as well."

Mary stared at her, then sighed, and followed Alice. But none of them needed to worry Sirius had seen the Slytherins get up and knew that they were going to followed them, so he took Lily into one of the secret passageways, which lead them up to the floor where Dumbledore's office was.

Lily shook her head, "How you ever managed to find all those passageways I'll never know."

Sirius grinned, "We're clever Lily-Petal, and we love exploring. Do you think we should go up or wait here?"

"I think we should-" Lily stopped as the stone gargoyle started to move and the staircase appeared. Marigold ran down the corridor and straight into Lily's arms.

"Oh Lily! He came to my house. He attacked my parents and killed my mother, and and-"

"Shhh," Lily held Marigold and stroked her hair. "I know, I know.

"They don't know whether my brother will survive. Dumbledore says I should go to him, and that my dad needs me."

"Then go Mari, go. You have to be with Elliot."

All of Marigold's energy seemed to have left her. She lifted her tear stained face from Lily shoulder and met Sirius' gaze.

"Sirius." she gulped and letting go of Lily moved to her boyfriend.

Sirius held her tightly, and whispered fiercely, "We'll pay them back Goldie. They'll pay for what they did."

"Padfooot, where's Lily?" Sirius looked up astonished to see James standing in front of him.

"She's right-" He stopped, Lily was gone. Sirius looked up the corridor, "There she is." He pointed to the entrance to Dumbledore's office where Lily was just about to step onto the stairs.

James turned, "Lily! Wait!"

Lily's foot hesitated on the step and she glanced back as James ran towards her.

"Where are you going?" James came to a stop beside her.

"To see Dumbledore. I want to ask him something, are you coming?"

"What do you want to ask him?" James asked as they stepped onto the moving stairs.

"Wait and see." Lily replied.

She knocked loudly on the wooden door and immediately a voice called out, "Come in!"

Lily pushed the door open and Professor Dumbledore looked up, "Ah Miss Evans, Mr Potter, I thought you would come at some point. How can I help you?"

Lily took a deep breath and marched forwards, "Professor is there anything we can do to stop Lord Voldermort?"

Dumbledore stared at her, "And why Miss Evans would you want to know that?"

"Because I want to stop him. He's injuring and killing people and we need to stop that. We need to fight against that. He has to be stopped."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, "I see and do you share her views Mr Potter?"

"Yes." James wished he could express himself more. He wanted to say everything that Lily had said. "Of course I do."

"I see." Dumbledore repeated. "And how much would you give up to stop him?"

"Everything." This time James answered and Dumbledore could see that James was telling the truth. The boy had endured so much at the hands of Lord Voldermort, there would be nothing he'd would not be willing to do in order to stop him.

"I would give everything up as well." Lily took James' hand. "We both would."

Dumbledore smiled suddenly, "That's good, or rather its good for what I'm about to tell you."

"Which is what?" James asked.

"Which is that there is something we can do to stop Lord Voldermort. There is a group, one that I created myself, and they aim to destroy Lord Voldermort and protect the people he wants to harm. It is called The Order of the Phoenix." he leant forwards suddenly, "What do you say about that? Would you like to join The Order? I must warn you, if you join you will be in danger. You could die."

Lily glanced at James and saw that his decision was written all over his face, and decided that she didn't want James to be doing something that she wasn't involved in, so she nodded.

"We understand Professor. But I think I speak for both James and myself when I say that we would do anything to stop him."

James nodded, "Lily's right, we would."

"Very well then. Once school has finished, I will notify you about the time and place of the next meeting." Dumbledore paused for a second and twiddled his thumbs, "And maybe you could suggest a few more people that could join, because I think that there are quite a few in your common room who would join."

"I already know some Professor. I can guarantee that they will join."

"And who might they be Mr Potter?"

"Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

"Marigold, Alice and Frank would join too." Lily put in.

Dumbledore nodded, "I see and what about your other friends Mr Potter and Miss Evans? Miss McDonald and Mr Pettigrew?"

James shrugged, "Peter will come if we force him. But I don't know about Mary."

Both James and Dumbledore looked at Lily, "I have no idea. She doesn't like Voldermort but I don't think she wants to fight him."

Dumbledore nodded, "Very well then. Send those people who you have suggested to me as soon as possible. I think we will wait to ask Miss Lucas until she comes back. Agreed?"

Lily and James nodded, "Shall we tell them to come tonight?"

"Yes, do that and just remember; The Order is a secret organisation, so don't tell anyone about it. Keep it to yourself."

"We will Professor."

"Good, then go and see-"

"I'm sorry Professor but how big is the chance of Marigold's brother dying?"

Dumbledore sighed quietly, "As far as I've been told, Mr Lucas' chances are fifty-fifty. He is teetering on the edge and one alteration can change that."

Lily nodded, "Thank-you Professor."

"Now see if you can find Miss Lucas and send her to me. She needs to get to St Mungo's as soon as possible."

Lily and James nodded and left. Marigold was still in the corridor with Sirius, and after delivering Dumbledore's message to her, Lily and James went for a walk. They wondered down to the Black Lake and set off around the outside.

"Do you really feel like that?" James asked.

"Like what?"

"Everything that you said in Dumbledore's office. About wanting to defeat Voldermort."

"Yes," Lily's voice was quiet, "I really do feel like that. After what he has done to your family and after they tried to attack Sirius, I've realised that he needs to go and that we need to do what ever he takes. Even if we die."

"Even if we die." James repeated softly, "Even if we die, we'll do what ever it takes."

He stopped walking and turned back to look at Lily, "I couldn't live without you, Lils if you did die because of The Order. I couldn't do it."

Lily looked up into James' eyes, "Neither could I James, but you know lots of people are sacrificing their lives at the moment and losing the people they can't live without."

"But-"

"Jami," Lily whispered running her hands through his hair, "I know you've given lots up already, but if we fight against Voldermort it must mean that we are willing to give up more than them."

James sighed, "But what if, in the end, I give everything up, and I have nothing left."

"Then you would have made the ultimate sacrifice and people will thank you for it. Jami not everyone's willing to give up their lives for others, but if we do that people will be grateful."

"Are you sure?" James sat down on the grass and pulled Lily with him. "Are you sure about that Lils?"

Lily lay down, looking at the sky, "No Jami, I'm not sure, but we're not doing this for the fame. We're doing it because we believe that what Voldermort is doing is wrong."

"Are you scared?" James also lay down and rolled onto his side and started fiddling with a strand of Lily's hair.

"Of course I'm scared James. I'm terrified." she turned her head to look at him.

James smiled and lent closer, "I'll protect you Lily, don't worry about that."

Lily smiled slightly and kissed him, "I know you will James, I know."

* * *

After the attack on Marigold's family, nothing was heard from Voldermort for a while. It seemed to everyone as if he was waiting for something, but for what they had no idea. There were a couple more disappearances, but no out right murders. The thing that people found most strange was that both Muggles and Magical people went missing. If the police and the Ministry thought that it was a group of kidnappers, the appearance of the bodies a few weeks later made it impossible to think so. Marigold's mother had been buried two weeks after her death but Marigold herself didn't return to Hogwarts until a week after that. Her brother had not died but he was still in St Mungo's, his injuries were taking longer than expected to heal. Lily and James had told their friends to see Dumbledore and all of them had agreed to join The Order, all except Mary that was. Peter hadn't needed a lot of persuasion, as soon as he found out that the rest of the Marauders were joining, he agreed to as well. Lily, James and all the seventh years tried to make the Gryffindor common room one of the happiest places to be at weekends holding all sorts of events, trying to make the students forget about the occurrences outside the walls of Hogwarts. But no matter how hard they tried, it was obvious to everyone that the dark days had begun and that they were there to stay.


	32. Exams and Results

Exams and Results

The weeks passed quicker and quicker after Easter and soon the NEWTs were upon the Seventh years. Lily had started revising almost two months before the exams, and now on the eve before her last and final exam she had her nose stuck in a book, frantically going over the different spells and charms they had learnt all year.

"Lils are you going to relax?" James asked, looking up from the game of chess he was playing.

Lily dropped her book slightly enabling herself to look over it and glare at James, "No I will not. Relaxation comes after the exam tomorrow. I don't know why your playing chess, when you should be studding for tomorrow."

"I have studied, just like you. But Lils I finished it yesterday just like you finished revising for this particular exam last week."

"Still. I went through some things this morning and I had forgotten everything."

Marigold now looked up, "Bloody hell Lily its a practical, not a written exam. You only need to memorise the-"

"Memorise the spells, but what if I get asked to perform a spell I don't know."

Marigold sighed, "Lily you know every spell in the bloody spell book. If any of us should be worried about not knowing all the spells it should be Sirius. He hasn't done anything."

"But he always gets good marks, as does James and the rest of their fucking group of friends."

"Oh Merlin." Marigold put down the book she was reading, "Lily, Remus gets good marks because he studies, James and Sirius are just weirdo's and Peter has been revising since the beginning of the year. You on the other hand-"

"I revise, just like Remus."

"And you always get good marks. I mean it Lily can we stop having this conversation? We had it when we were doing OWLs as well."

"But those were OWLs, NEWTs are something completely different."

"No they're not. They're the same just one level harder. Lily what did you get on your OWLs?"

"Um, Os."

"Exactly on all of them. So don't get freaked out about the defence practical, you'll ace it."

"But if I don't I'll never be able to become an Auror."

Marigold picked up her book, "I'm out. Someone else try to knock the sense into her."

There was silence for a few minutes. Everyone ignored Marigold's request, and the silence was only broken by a yell from James.

"Oh yes, ha take that Padfoot."

"CHEAT! You cheated Prongs. You moved twice in a row."

"Its Wizards Chess, Padfoot."

"So?"

"It won't let you cheat."

Sirius growled and James laughed, "Aww is the little doggy getting angry?"

"Shut up Prongs. Its not fair, I never win."

"That's because you always try to cheat Sirius. Now come over here and stop annoying James." Marigold held her hand out and Sirius bounded over to her grinning from ear to ear.

James looked at Lily. The red head was still reading. Slowly he went over and bent down beside her chair, "Hey Lily-Petal."

"Not now James." Lily didn't even raise her head.

"Lils come on. You've done enough work, come and have some fun, just a bit of relaxation before tomorrow."

Lily shook her head, "I can't James. If I screw this exam up, I've screwed up the whole of my life."

"No you wouldn't. You know why?" James asked and then carried on without waiting for an answer, "Because you can do anything Lils, anything you want to do. So what if you don't get the marks to become an Auror. At least you've got The Order." James dropped his voice at the end and this time Lily looked up at him.

"We're not supposed to talk about that."

"I know, but that got your attention."

He stood up and grabbed her arms, "Come on Lily. If you don't get up now I'll take you by force."

Lily sighed and stood, "What now?"

James grinned, "Well we can either do rounds-"

"Lets go."

"OR, Remus can do the rounds and we go find a cupboard."

Lily paused on her way to the door, a sparkle in her eye, "Did you say a cupboard Jami?"

"I did say a cupboard Lils."

Lily grabbed his hand, "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Goldie." Sirius complained once Lily and James had left. "Prongs and Lily-Petal are going to have some fun."

"And?"

"Can't we go too. I know a place where we won't bump into them."

"Shut it Black."

Sirius stared at Marigold and to everyone's surprise did 'shut it'.

* * *

"So how did it go?" James asked flopping down onto the grass beside Lily.

"It went okay. How about you?"

"Neh, good. I forgot how to do a wrist movement on one spell but still managed to get it right."

"Show off." Lily muttered, closing her eyes, and turning her head towards the sun.

"Who's a show off?" Alice asked raising her head slightly from Frank's chest.

"James apparently." Remus answered.

The Defence Against The Dark Arts practical exam was over and all the Seventh years were sitting around enjoying the late afternoon sun shine. Most of them were just lying around but a few like Remus and Peter, who still had exams were revising. The Marauders, Frank and Lily's friends were lying under The Marauder's tree, all except Sirius who was running around the grounds trying to get away from a wasp that Lily and Marigold had charmed to follow the boy no matter where he went. James laughed as Sirius, in a last desperate attempt to get away from the wasp, jumped into The Black Lake. Lily and Marigold also laughed, and Sirius gave a yell, having discovered that even water didn't stop the creature.

"Aghh, this bloody thing won't go away. Prongs! Help me. Not even water will kill it."

Sirius stumbled out of the water and shook himself like a dog, splattering water over the nearest students, who squealed.

"Black, use your bloody wand to kill or banish the thing, and to dry yourself off." One of the Hufflepuffs glared at Sirius as ran passed, spraying them with water.

Sirius grabbed his wand off the floor and pointed it at the wasp. Nothing happened. Sirius waved it again, "Its not working! Aghh Prongs help me!"

Sirius ran behind and hid behind James. James laughed stepping out of the way. Sirius screamed and ran to Lily, "Lily-Petal, please stop it, please."

"What will you give me for doing it?"

"Anything!"

Lily shrugged, "Okay." she lifted her hand and whistled. Immediately the wasp stopped buzzing round Sirius and went straight to Lily's hand. It landed on her palm and Marigold waved her wand over it. Sirius stared at the wasp as it flew off, then turned to the girls, "Did you set that thing on me?"

Marigold smiled sweetly at Sirius, "Us? No, we'd never do something like that."

Sirius stared at Marigold, then stood up, "I'm going somewhere where I'm more appreciated."

The group watched him walk away and waited till he was out of ear-shoot before Remus spoke, "He'll come back. Give him ten minutes and he won't have found anyone to be with."

"He'll never find anyone apart from us." Marigold muttered. She sighed and pushed herself up enabling herself to see Sirius, "Ooh look he's already turning round."

Lily laughed suddenly, and James stared at her, "What are you laughing at?"

Lily shook her head, still racked with laughter. Sirius glared at her as he stormed passed, "Its not funny Lily."

"I'm not laughing at you Sirius."

The boy stopped and glared at Lily, "I don't believe you."

"Fine, don't believe me."

Sirius folded his arms and walked off.

"So," James tried again. "what were you laughing at?"

"Nothing, its just funny to see Sirius being so paranoid. I was laughing because of a joke I just remembered and Sirius thought that I was laughing at him."

"Sometimes I think your mad, Lily." Mary shook her head.

"You think she's mad? Hell Mary, Lily is already mad."

Frank laughed, "Yeah, your right about that Alice."

"Right," Marigold got to her feet, "I need to do some revision for tomorrow. Mary you coming?"

Mary nodded, "Yep, I've forgotten what the Flobberworms eat."

"Oh you'll soon remember that." Marigold's voice faded as she and Mary disappeared into the castle.

"When do the results come out again?"

"Two weeks." Remus glanced up from his book, "Just before the end of term."

"Oh lets not think about the end of term yet. Its coming along so fast, it will be no time at all before we leave."

"Good idea, I don't want to think about leaving, not yet."

"Um Lily?"

Lily sat up and stared at the boy in front of her, "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you."

Lily glared at Snape, "But I've told you before-"

"Lily just please, I just want to tell you something."

Lily sighed, Snape's voice had sounded desperate. She glanced at James, who was gripping his wand. Lily put her hand out, "James put it down. I'll talk with you Snape, but you give me your wand."

Snape nodded, handed it to her and Lily stood up. They walked a little way away from the tree, and then Snape turned to face her.

"Lily, first can I say I'm sorry?"

"You already have. Get to the point Snape. James won't be patient for long."

Snape nodded, "Okay, well um Dumbledore told me about The Order."

Lily took a step back, "What?"

"Professor Dumbledore told me about the order, and I um, I'm going to join."

Lily stared at him, "But you... your-" she gulped, "Your one of them, Snape. Your working with Voldermort."

"No! No Lily I'm not. I don't want to be with them, but-"

"But what Snape? You have no choice?"

Snape nodded, "Yes."

"But you do have a choice Snape. You don't have to be with them, you choose to be."

"Only because no one else will be with me."

"Because of what you do. If you change yourself, then you might get better friends that you can trust." Lily turned to go, then stopped and turned back, "Why did you join?"

"Because I am _not_ part of them Lily. I want to fight against him, just like you and your friends."

"How much did Dumbledore tell you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did he tell you who is joining?"

"No, he only said that I should talk to you about it. Tell you that I'm joining, so you don't kill me or what ever at the first meeting."

"And I'm guessing Dumbledore thinks I'll tell the others who are joining, if there are any."

Severus looked at Lily and shrugged, "I don't care. I know Potter would never let you join without coming himself, and I'm guessing that the rest of his friends are with him on that."

"Its none of your business Severus. And it won't be until we see each other at the meeting."

Snape nodded, "Thank-you Lily. Thank-you for speaking to me."

Lily nodded, "Your welcome Sev, just don't ask for a word again in front of James."

"I won't." Snape whispered as he watched Lily return to her friends. James asked her something, but Lily shook her head, and then lifted her eyes up. They met Severus' and the boy realised that Lily wasn't going to tell James or the others. James looked towards Snape as he moved forwards.

"What do you want now?"

"Lily has my wand."

"Oh yes, sorry." Lily jumped up, closed the gap between them and handed it to him.

"Thank-you." he whispered again and Lily nodded, before turning back to James.

"I think I'm going inside. We need to find Black before he kills himself out of pity."

"I'll come. It will be easier to find him with two of us looking."

They left, and James' arm wound round Lily's waist, pulling her closer to him. Severus watched them go, knowing that the action had been done to show him that Lily would never be his. He turned away, hesitating slightly before going back to where the Slytherins were sitting.

* * *

"GOLDIE! Goldie, Lily-Petal! There here. The results are here." Sirius ran down between the two tables in the great hall, to where Marigold and Lily were sitting. He stopped slightly breathless in front of them. "The results are here. I just saw the owls coming with them. Their here!" he squealed.

"Where's Prongs?"

Lily shrugged, "No idea. He said he had to do something with Remus."

"Lily, Marigold!" Alice appeared, "Frank says he saw the post arrive and that there were lots of results."

There was a squawk and hundreds of owls flew into the hall. All the seventh years had heard Sirius' yell so were looking out for owls that were most likely for them. Four owls came flying towards Lily and the others but only one landed. The others flew on to the Ravenclaw table. The owl that had landed had done so in front of Sirius. He took the letter of its claw and the bird flew off.

"And?" Marigold asked as Sirius opened it. The boy's eyes scanned the paper, flying over the writing, then he looked up at them and grinned, "I did it. I got the marks I needed."

"Which were?" Lily prompted.

"An 'O' in Defence Against the Dark Arts, an 'O' in Transfiguration and Charms and 'E' in everything else. Which means I got the marks I needed to become an Auror."

"That's great!" Marigold threw her arms round his neck then turned to Alice, who also now had her results. Before Marigold could ask, two more owls landed, one in front of her and the other went to Lily. Lily tore the envelope off the birds foot and ripped it open. She stared at the paper, holding her breath.

THE NEWT EXAMINATION RESULTS FOR

MISS LILY EVANS

DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS- O

CHARMS-O

TRANSFIGURATION-O

HISTORY OF MAGIC-O

POTIONS-O

ASTRONOMY-O

DIVINATION-O

"Lily?"

Lily raised her head. Marigold, Sirius and Alice were looking at her expectantly, "Well, how did you do?" Marigold repeated the question.

Lily looked at them, then at the paper and sighed, "Well it seems like I managed to get an 'O' in everything."

The three of them were silent for a second while they took in Lily's words, then they screamed. Alice and Marigold jumped up and down, and hugged Lily.

"Oh Merlin, we did it!" Alice cried, "We all made it into the Auror training program."

Lily grinned from ear to ear, "We're going to be Auror's."

"Only if we pass the test at the end of our training though." the voice came from behind and they turned to find James.

The boy was grinning to, and Lily ran to him, jumping into his arms, "You made it to didn't you?"

James nodded, "Yep, so did Frank."

"What about Remus?"

"He doesn't want to be an Auror. He's going to send a letter to a witch he met at the New Years party. Apparently she offered him a job."

"Where's Mary?" Alice asked suddenly, "We have to know what she got."

"Oh yeah, James what were your marks?"

"Um I got an 'O' in everything."

"What even Muggle Studies?"

"Yes, Lils even Muggle Studies."

"Aww well done." Lily kissed him.

"I think we need to celebrate."

"You always want to celebrate Padfoot."

"But now I have a real reason, and anyway there's a party in Hogsmead tomorrow night. I'm going and anyone else who wants to join me can."

Marigold glanced at Lily, "Are you going to go?"

"We might get caught and-"

"Oh Lily-Petal its almost the end of the year." Sirius complained. "Just let us have a bit of fun."

"I suppose we can go." Lily sighed, "Okay Black we'll come to the little party, but we mustn't get caught."

"Lily-Petal, when I'm around you'll never get caught." Sirius said grinning.

* * *

After the Gryffindors had got over the excitement about their results they went to find out how others had done. Most of the seventh years had done well, but there were a few who's bad results reflected their behaviour. By the faces on some of the Slytherins, Lily and the others could guess that they hadn't got the marks they wanted.

"At least they already have jobs." Sirius muttered under his breath as they passed a group of particularly unhappy girls.

Everyone had chosen to ignore the comment but they all knew that Sirius was right. More than half of the Slytherins supported Voldermort and it didn't really matter if their marks weren't great. Eventually Mary appeared and showed them her results, but she quickly disappeared again to find her cousin. Remus and Frank did also show up at some point as did Peter. The small boy's results were as good as he could have hoped for, and both Remus and Frank were happy with their marks. They all agreed to join Sirius at his party, but also decided to have a celebration of their own, in the common room that night. Needless to say it involved alcohol and they all got very drunk. The teachers were starting to turn a blind eye to the goings on as the students got into the holiday feeling. Only the seventh years were a bit subdued. Each passing day bought them closer and closer to their last day at the school they loved.


	33. Goodbye Hogwarts

AN/ Hey guys. I know I said that I would put this chapter up on Sunday but I decided that I would put another chapter together with this one, but I needed to write it. Now however I am happy to say that it is written and that they can both go up. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Goodbye Hogwarts

The last week of term came the day after the NEWT results came out. The Marauder's had decided to play one last big trick and had spent the whole weekend locked in their dorm, with Frank. The girls had decided they didn't care what happened as long as they were warned just before something happened. The boys agreed to it and on the last Monday they came down, smiles on their faces.

"Be prepared ladies." Sirius swung to face them. "Today will be the day you never forget."

"Great." Lily muttered, "What are we supposed to look out for?"

"Now that," Said James appearing from the staircase. "would be telling. Morning Lils." He gave Lily a hug, and she grinned at him.

"You promised to tell us."

"Ah no, what we promised to do was warn you when we were going to do something but not what it would be, Shorty. You must go through every possibility and loop hole." James grinned.

"Oh great, we are such idiots." Alice shook her head. "How long is this trick going to be?"

"Um well I'd say it starts today, and depending on what happens today, will finish on Thursday evening."

"How have you got enough tricks for the whole week?"

"Donny, my friend our minds are better than the average person, so it was easy to get enough tricks."

"Now, if you will excuse us." Sirius swept a bow. "We have work to do. Come on." Sirius left and after giving Lily a quick kiss, James and the others followed.

"How long do you think we should give them to set everything up?" Mary asked.

"We can go now." Lily suggested, "I'm betting they've got everything set up already." she placed her book on the table, "Come on then."

Marigold jumped up, "I'm up for what ever they've set up."

But as soon as the girls stepped out of the common room, Marigold literally ate her words. The floors and walls outside the common room had changed into jelly. The jelly was a mixture of colours and they were able to see all the way down to the kitchen.

"So what do you think?" The girls turned to see Frank bouncing towards them.

"It great. But its going to take us ages to get to breakfast." Alice somehow managed to stay on her feet as she went to greet Frank.

The boy laughed, "Easy. Eat you way through or just throw it to the side. The jelly will re-grow after you've passed onto the next floor."

"Really? Wow, I love jelly." Mary pushed her hands through the floor and pulled out a lump, then threw it to the side. "Well come on, I can't do this by myself."

With a sigh, Lily, Marigold and Alice knelt down, rolled up their sleeves and started to pull chunks away. It took them almost forty minutes to get down to the great hall and when they got there, they discovered that the Slytherins were covered in goo.

Alice turned to Frank, "What happened to them?"

Frank smiled, "Well I think we might have miss-spoken the spell in the Dungeons. The jelly there will turn to goo, and slime when its been touched four times."

"Ha that is good." Lily walked towards the doors. "Shame-"

She stopped suddenly as half her body disappeared, "Frank. Is there something set up for the great hall as well?"

"Um maybe."

Lily nodded, "How does my body come back?"

"Just walk through the door and it'll come back. Its not the best magic but," he shrugged, "its the least dangerous one."

Lily stared at him, then nodded accepting the fact, "Okay, just don't tell me when there going to happen so that I can't stop it."

Frank nodded, "Yep, got it. You might want to tell James that. He's worrying about your reaction to it."

Lily shrugged then continued moving towards the door, until her friends couldn't see her any more, as she had turn invisible. Taking Frank's hand Alice followed, close behind them came Marigold and Mary. Once they passed through the doors they once more became visible, but now were missing their shirts and jumpers.

Lily stared at Marigold, "Oh My God! All the boys can see my bra."

"Oh relax Lily, James has seen what's under the bra."

Lily glared at her, "Thanks Mari. You know the others didn't need to know that."

"Aww your welcome Lily. I'm not complaining though, I bet it was Sirius who thought of this." Marigold glanced at Frank, who confirmed with a nod of his head.

Wolf whistles followed the girls down the hall, and many of the boys wished that they now had Lily and her friends as their girlfriends. James was sitting at the table waiting for them and grinned as Lily came up, "Well that is one bra that I have never seen before. Is it new?"

Lily hit him over the head, "Shut it Potter. Marigold's already told everyone about our private life."

James reddened slightly, "Oh great."

"Don't worry James. Only a few people over heard."

"Wonderful."

Lily lent towards him, "Ignore her, she's just jealous because Black doesn't look as good as you do without a shirt."

"Hey, you've never seen me without a shirt Lily-Petal."

"No but now I have, I prefer James even more."

Sirius scowled, "That's because he plays quiddich, and works out."

James rolled his eyes, "Padfoot, quiddich is a workout. Just wait till you see your girlfriend and -"

"Hey, don't look at my girlfriend."

"I don't but I know you can't help it."

Sirius glared at James, then stood up, "I need to go. Next part of the trick."

He disappeared just as there was a roar of outrage from the Slytherins table. People craned their necks to see what was going on and what they saw made them laugh. The Slytherins table had vanished and a whole load of mice had appeared. The small animals were running all over the place and only finding the Slytherin students.

James grinned and sat down, helping himself to a piece of toast, "It was going to be snakes, but when we experimented on an old robe, it turned into Viper and well that was too dangerous."

"So you chose Mice?"

"Yep, smaller and less harmful." James glanced at his watch, "Ooh, lesson time! Come on Lily otherwise we're going to be late."

James jumped up and grabbed Lily, "Why do you suddenly care about being late? Its almost the end of term."

"Well we might as well end it as we started it." James smiled, and Lily frowned.

"I was almost late for the first lesson anyway."

James shrugged, and he lead Lily to Potions. Lily's frown deepened as she realised that they were walking far to easily than they should be on jelly.

"Um James, why can we walk?"

"We learnt how to walk when we were little."

"I know that but why aren't we struggling to walk on the jelly?"

"What jelly Lils?"

Lily looked around and stared. The walls and floors had now turned into bubbles. "How much more have you got up you sleeve?"

"Oh we've got tones of stuff. Lils this is going to last the entire week."

"So how much more comes today?"

"A bit. But don't worry there's nothing arranged for the lessons."

"Then why has Sirius gone to arrange the next part already?"

"Because it takes a long time to set it up, neither he, Remus or Peter will be in the first few lessons today."

"Why aren't you helping them?"

James smiled, "Because I need to keep my name clear until tomorrow."

"Oh and what's happening tomorrow?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out." James grinned and swung them into the classroom.

* * *

For the rest of the day little changes happened all over the castle. When James had told Lily that there were no tricks prepared for the lessons, he meant for the seventh years. The rest of the students enjoyed lessons full of funny, weird and stupid jokes. Everyone knew who was responsible for their fun and when The Marauders entered the great hall, they were greeted by thunderous applause. Even some of the teachers were clapping the boys. James and Sirius started bowing and in the end Remus joined in to, Peter however was not there and Frank didn't think he deserved any appreciation so he stayed sitting until Sirius pulled him to is feet. Finally the clapping stopped and everyone sat down.

"Anything planned for now?" Marigold asked.

"Um I don't think so." Sirius looked at Remus. "Did we plan anything?"

"No, I didn't so unless you did there's nothing coming."

"I didn't do anything either. Aww that's a shame, we so should have thought of something. Ooh good food."

Sirius grabbed hold of his cutlery and grabbed some food. Then he stopped and stared at his hands. Lots of small purple dots were appearing all over his hands.

"What the hell?"

"Maybe its some kind of disease you've picked up?" James suggested.

"What kind of disease?"

James shrugged, "How would I know. Its your body."

"Well I don't really see the problem." Lily muttered picking up her folk, "I mean its not like the spots will make any difference. Oh holy crap!"

Lily dropped her folk and stared at her hands, which had now also started developing spots.

"See! See Lily-Petal also has it."

Lily turned to James, "Potter are you sure that you didn't have anything planned?"

"Well the others didn't have anything planned but then they didn't really ask whether I had anything."

"But obviously you did."

James nodded, as the gasps from the hall became louder, "Just wait till you see what happens to the teachers."

The group turned to look at the staff table, but saw nothing except from a startlingly beautiful woman sitting in Professor Dumbledore's chair. The woman was staring at her hands in amazement. Next to the woman, was Professor McGonigall. She hadn't noticed that Dumbledore was absent from his place beside her and she picked up her goblet to drink. Then before the Gryffindors surprised eyes Professor McGonigall changed, into a young man. Sirius burst out laughing, and was quickly followed by the others.

"Oh wow. Prongs, that is good. A spell that changes their sex."

"How does it work." Mary asked.

James smiled, "Basically the spell should resemble what they looked like as young adults or teenagers but changed round. Do you get it?"

"No." Sirius replied.

"Okay well, um lets take McGonigall. At the moment she looks like a pretty um er-"

"Pretty hot young man."

"Yes, thank-you Goldie."

"Your welcome."

"Anyway, McGonigall looks like a pretty hot young man and that is because when she was a teenager she was a very pretty girl."

"Oh I think I get it." Alice lent forwards. "The spell takes an image of what the person used to look like and then changes it, and transforms them back only as the opposite sex. Right?"

"Yes, that's absolutely correct, Shorty."

"For most people." Sirius muttered, "I still don't-"

"I'll tell you about it later Sirius." Marigold sighed. "Just stop talking about it. I say Slughorn would have made a very interesting person to shop with."

Their eyes returned to the staff table but this time they looked at the Potions master. The teacher was wearing an long sleeved shirt with a knitted vest jumper over the top. Mary and Alice giggled, "Can you imagine him walking down the street wearing that?" Mary shook her head.

"Its what the young children wore in those days." Lily tried to stick up for the teacher but in the end started laughing as well. Professor Slughorn, really did look ridicules, with his long brown hair and winter clothes, but it seemed as if he hadn't noticed. The other teachers on the other hand had, and they were staring at each other in wonder. Professor McGonigall and Professor Dumbledore were having, what seemed to be a very animated conversation about which Marauder would have been clever enough to have performed a spell like that. Neither of them came to a conclusion, and as more and more people erupted in purple spots, Dumbledore stood. The hall fell quite, and Dumbledore looked at the Gryffindor table, "Could Mr Potter and his fellow friends stand up please."

The Marauders stood and Dumbledore ran his eyes over them, before speaking, "Tell us sirs, how do we get rid of this?" he pointed to his face and then at the hands of a first year, who was nearly crying.

Sirius shrugged and Remus looked at his plate. James sighed, "Its easy Professor."

"Then please enlighten us Mr Potter."

"Well you just have to wait until the spell wears off. It won't harm you."

"And how do you know that Mr Potter."

Another sigh from James, "Because they have already been tested out."

"On who, or what as the case may be."

"On a House Elf Professor."

Dumbledore nodded, "I see and did the elf do it willingly?"

"Oh yes Professor, I would never have done it on someone unwilling."

"And this is the same with the purple spots?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Hum," Dumbledore looked at his hands again then pulled a lock of his dark, honeyish colour brown hair forward and started to twiddle with it, "I think I'll get to like this. Shame it can't last forever."

He turned still fiddling and wondered out of the room. James sat down, and Sirius spoke, "Is it true what you said Prongs? Will it wear off?"

"Oh yes eventually."

"Eventually?" Lily asked her voice dangerously low.

James rolled his eyes, "Relax Lil. If you want to get rid of them there's always a spell I can use."

"Yay!" Sirius cried happily and then gabbed his goblet and drank, not noticing that, the second he had touched the cup, his hair had started to change colour.

Lily turned back to James, "Anything else that you've hexed James?"

"Ahh, well about that." James smiled guiltily.

* * *

True to his word the spots disappeared and everyone's hair colour went back to normal after two days and it turned out that the hair colour played an important role in one of the other tricks. In stead of aiming a different trick at each house, people were targeted depending on what colour hair they had. Each colour had a different thing that was meant to happen. Remus had insisted on this as he thought that it was unfair that the Slytherins always got the hard time, although he to, hated them. On Tuesday people still hadn't returned to normal and nobody was surprised when the teachers came in looking the same as the previous evening. No other trick had occurred after lunch and that evening the girls had found out that one of the tricks had failed to work. They weren't told what it was, just that it hadn't happened, so they were eagerly awaiting it. By Wednesday however nothing else had happened and everything was back to normal. The student believed that everything was over and so forgot to be wary about the goings on. So when on Wednesday a huge image of a dragon came flying thought the great hall at lunch, people were more than shocked.

"YES!" crowed Sirius, right after the dragon had vanished. "It worked. Told you it would, I told you."

"Yeah, but this time Remus was the one to set it up, not you." Frank pointed out and Sirius pouted.

"James that could have given someone a heart attack." Lily glared at James and the boy held up his hands.

"Don't blame me. I thought that they had given up on the dragon after it didn't work yesterday or on Monday."

"Was that the most dangerous one?"

"In a sense yes."

"And what does that mean?"

James sighed, "It means that there is possibly another trick coming that-"

He didn't get to finish as the dragon reappeared and this time burst into flames over the heads of the students. As the flames died down, hundreds of packets of Muggle sweets fell from the sky.

Lily laughed as a packet of wine gums landed in her hands, "Wow. Okay James, this wasn't as bad as I first thought."

James grinned at her, "I know right."

After that trick though Lily demanded to be let in on the other happenings. James also agreed with Lily, after the sudden appearance of the dragon, he realised that they needed someone sensible to know what they were doing so that if the trick became to dangerous, they could stop it. Sirius pointed out that they had Remus, but after Remus said that he was too involved with the trick to be able to see something as 'harmful' or 'not harmful', Sirius relented. They explained the rest of their plan to her, and Lily gave every single one of them the go ahead. The most dangerous one left that Lily could see from the plan was one involving the ceiling of the great hall, and seeing as only teachers would be in there at the time, there was no real risk, well unless Sirius fell off one of the beams.

* * *

The last day of term came and all the students were sorry. Mostly because as The Marauders were leaving there would be no one else to play tricks or jokes, unless one of the new first years had a knack for it. The Marauders were sorry to leave, they had had many adventures inside the walls of Hogwarts and none of them would ever be forgotten. One thing that the students had thought strange thought was that on the second to last day of term, Peter had got a detention for being out of bed at night. It was strange because none of The Marauders had ever been caught before. Lily had asked James about it and he had smiled.

"He got caught on purpose."

"What do you mean?"

"We arranged it that way. Because of the map. We have no use of it outside Hogwarts, I mean the most I could do would be to keep an eye on Amy. Students here will have more use of it."

"But why get Peter caught?"

"So that Filch would confiscate the map. If there is ever someone worthy of carrying on what The Marauders started, they will find the map, and they will work out how to open it. All mischief makers are the same. If they're worthy, they'll find it."

Lily had nodded, and did not speak about it again.

But now it was the last day and in the flurry of all the packing and goodbyes, Lily and James escaped to the grounds. There they walked hand in hand, looking up at the big imposing stone castle that they had grown to love and think of as home.

"It'll be different out there." Lily whispered, stopping for a second.

"I know. We'll be living our own lives and making our own decisions."

"We've been doing that our whole lives already James."

"I know, but this time there's no one to help us when we choose wrong."

"There's your friends." Lily pointed out.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but they're not always there."

"Does it matter? If you know you've got friends who will help you no matter what, who cares whether you make a mistake."

"How did you get so wise Lil?"

The red head shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe I'm growing up."

"You've always been a grown up, Lily."

"You know what I mean."

James chuckled, "Yes, I do."

They continued walking in silence, comfortable with their own thoughts. They were halfway round the lake before the silence was broken.

"You know this has been my best year ever?"

Lily looked at James, "Why?"

"Because I became head boy, I got the results I wanted and I was lucky enough to get the girl of my dreams."

Lily smiled, "The girl of your dream, huh? I never knew that."

"There's lots you don't know about me, Lils."

"And do I get to learn them?"

"If you lucky."

Lily sighed, and James stared at her, "What?"

"There it is again, that word."

"What word?"

"'Lucky'. Everything now has to do with luck. We were lucky it didn't rain. We were lucky that no one else has gone missing." she turned to look at him. "You were lucky to get me. I feel like we're living off this word."

"And so what if we are? What's wrong if we think we're lucky?"

"Nothing, its just that I feel like so much hangs on the word right now, and not everyone is lucky."

"But we are, Lils. I'm lucky that I got the girl of my dreams and that we go to a school like this."

James pulled her closer.

"So you think that you're lucky to have me?"

"Yes, because one wrong move from me would have sent you running to Hodgeson."

Lily laughed, "Yeah, one wrong move. Hum I guess you are lucky then."

"Yes." James whispered kissing her one last time before they made their way back to the castle and home. "And it will last forever."


	34. Epilogue

AN/ So in case you haven't realised by the name of the chapter, this is the last one! :( However there will be a sequel and as soon as a chapter is ready I will post it on the end of Seventh Time Lucky. Thank you all for reading my story, writing reviews and for putting up with the weeks when I haven't put anything up. Love you all! :) xxxx

Epilogue

The baby laughed, trying to catch the smoke that James was shooting out of his wand. James smiled and sent more out, smiling. Harry laughed again, then stopped as Lily entered the room.

"Mama." Harry pointed at Lily then at the smoke.

Lily smiled, "Is daddy making smoke?" She turned to James, "I think its time for bed."

James nodded and scooped Harry up, kissed him on the head and handed him to Lily, "Night Harry."

Lily left the room and James sat back down on the sofa, laying his wand aside. Rain pattered gently on the widows and James heard footsteps on the pathway. _Sirius!_ James thought sitting up straighter. _Finally, he's late. _

BANG!

That wasn't Sirius, James realised and terror shot through him. _He's come, _ he thought, jumping to his feet.

"Lily!" he yelled running through into the hallway, "Lily! He's here. Take Harry and run. Run Lily!"

James stood in front of the steps bracing himself and cursing at his stupidity at having left his wand in the living room. There was no time to go back for it, if he did _he_ would get to Harry. Adrenalin rushed through James as he stood there waiting for _him._ Behind him Lily ran back up the stairs and into Harry's room, slamming and locking the door shut behind her. She couldn't leave James by running away but she also couldn't leave Harry to go help. She went over to her son's cot and bent down to look at him, "Mummy loves you Harry. Daddy loves you Harry. You are loved Harry. Be strong, be safe." she whispered quietly, fingers pressing against the bars.

BANG! Lily spun round, and stood in front of the cot, blocking Harry from _him_. It was too late to run, she should have gone immediately, if she wanted to have a chance at getting away. Lily stood there, tense and waiting, when the door flew open and there _he_ stood. Voldermort. _He_ had come, and Lily knew that if he was really truly standing there in Harry's room, then James was dead and their luck had finally run out. _James_. Lily clenched her fits and looked straight into the wizards eyes. _James._

"Please not Harry!" Lily begged hoping that it might make a difference. _James._

"Stand aside." Voldermort's voice was cold and hard.

"No." Lily was surprised at how firm her voice sounded. _James._

"Stand aside, silly girl. Otherwise I will kill you."

"You will not take my son."Lily's voice was surprisingly strong. _James._

Voldermort raised his wand and Lily stood taller. _James._ She didn't have a wand and even if she did she wouldn't defend herself. What would be the point? James was gone and without James she couldn't live, not even for Harry's sake. _James. _But she wouldn't let him kill Harry before her. _James. _She would die before she let anything happen to her son. _James._

A spark appeared in Voldermort's eyes as the words formed on his lips. Lily closed her eyes. _James._

_Harry I love you. James, I'm coming._

"Avada Kadava!"


	35. Quick Note, New Story

Hey guys. Just quickly wanted to tell you that THE SEQUEL'S UP! Its called Luck Doesn't Last Forever. We hope you enjoy the first chapter, it will be the first of many to come. :)


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